Where “Drive My Car” Was Filmed, Live Show – Photos
Who would have thought that this particular gig we played on October 20th, 2012 would produce our most viewed video to this day – our cover of Drive My Car, currently at 3.3 million YouTube views!
It was the opening song of our third and final set we had played that night. In total we had been on stage for nearly 4 hours and our setlist was 42 songs long! Thinking back, this must have been the longest single gig we ever played.
Uploading “Drive My Car” was a pretty spontaneous decision. One week we needed a new video for YouTube and on a whim decided to pick that song out of the entire setlist. We are glad we did because we know that many of you stumbled across our music because of it!
That particular show was memorable for many reasons, not only for the length of it. It was the only time we had ever performed at this particular venue, and here in the Club we’ll share with you why.
The “Saloon” is a restaurant/music venue in one of the big shopping/entertainment malls in the part of Vienna that we grew up in – the “Donauzentrum”.
Everyone we knew has had at least a few meals there and it was well liked for its food and convenient location. We knew they had regular live bands there, so when we were in the midst of heavy live performing, we thought it was a great venue to add to our live calendar.
The show went fab. The atmosphere was lovely and the crowd was in great spirits, attentive and delighted. When we came off stage that night, all happy and bouncy, we were quite surprised though to meet a slightly disgruntled bar manager. How come?
Literally the first thing he said was that, musically, we were one of the best bands he had ever perform at his place. Well, thank you!
But then he had to add that he was used to people standing on their tables on Saturday nights, chugging beers whiles singing their heart out to (Austrian) country and party songs. He had expected that instead of melodic 60s pop, folk and rock’n’roll songs. It’s still beyond us why he booked us in the first place but it’s something we joke about to this day. In a way he was the Austrian version of Bruno Koschmider, the guy that had told the Beatles to “Make Show” when they were playing in Hamburg in their youth, to cater to a drunk crowd who would leave the most money at the bar.
Kind of ironic that the same night our biggest YouTube hit got created.
And since this is already becoming a longer post we also want to address something that has come up in the comments of our “Drive My Car” video on YouTube every now and then:
Yes, there is a confederate flag on the wall behind us, and no, we didn’t know what it represented back when we played that venue. The first time someone pointed it out in the comments we actually didn’t have a clue what they were talking about. After googling and reading up on the complex history and symbolism connected to the flag, we are now very aware of the controversy and connotation surrounding it. It’s a part of American history many Europeans didn’t necessarily know much about. We doubt that even the restaurant’s owner himself knew about the flag’s history (although we don’t know that for sure) but that it’s been a rather clueless attempt put some “Wild West” looking things up on that wall.
We just wanted to clarify that our playing there was by no means a political statement, so next time you come across an angry comment about the flag, please feel free to share this ♥
Have a groovy day!
Mona & Lisa
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The Video —
In a few years, when I finally make it to Vienna, there’ll be a line out the door of The Saloon with people waiting to pay 25 Euros just to come in and see the stage. That bar manager will be smiling and saying how he discovered the Twins and knew they were going to be Big Stars.
I’m one of the people who found you by finding The Video. But I always wondered why you thought it was your most viewed video? One guess is the same reason you used it to lead off your last set of the night — it’s one of the best Beatles songs.
I just went to YT, signed out and cleared cache so Google wouldn’t know it was me, and went back into YT and typed in “drive my car”.
The Video is listed 10th on the first page of results. If you’re not on the first page of results, you’re not getting any hits.
It has a picture of Mona at the Saloon, holding the Rickenbacker. She actually plays acoustic in the video. But no one’s going to notice anything other than that smile – she’s glowing. 4 hours playing and you look as fresh as if you just started. It helps to be young and beautiful. And loving what you’re doing.
6.4m views now. I’ll bet that number correlates pretty well with the rise in subscriptions. What flag?
Sounds like you guys were paying your dues back then. Bar bands around here usually play 4 hours, maybe 9-1 am. Bars close at 2 or 2:30. If the crowd is good the owner might pay a little extra to play a little longer. I didn’t play good enough to be in my brother’s band but I roadied for them quite a bit. I got to put my drinks on the bands tab and dance with their groupies. Good Times. Thanks for sharing your pictures and stories.
Being raised in the Southern States for most of my life, I’ve heard all the comments of the Confederate Flag. Quite Honestly I don’t pay it much attention.
I applaud you for your comments, for someone that really has never known about the controversy, you are pretty knowledgeable about the subject.
Thanks for the pictures. What a beautiful setting! Nearly 4 hours of MonaLisa Twins Music Live? That would be a dream come true!!????❤
Way up on my list of favorite videos! I love the cover!
I love posts like these that fill us on the back story. Not just the “We came. We set up. We played.” Clearly the guy was a restaurant manager, not a talent scout. Didn’t feel the need to inquire about the music when hiring musicians. It looks like a very nice place, though.
I have to say that being from Argentina, reactions to the the confederate flag surprised me. As a teenager in Argentina, I grew up watching “Dukes of Hazard”, Bo, Luke and the General Lee (in Spanish). Loved it, but then had no idea what the flag painted on the roof of the car meant. Neither did I know who “General Lee” was, other than a cool name for the car. I did know about the civil war, and that it was one of the flags used by the south. I understood it to be a renegade symbol of those fighting an oppressive government.
Lived in LA for 20 years and always felt it was mostly in the past, didn’t see the flag anywhere and “racial tensions” were just as much with Latinos (meaning Mexico and central America – I don’t qualify).
When I moved to North Carolina, the difference was palpable. While the people are wonderful, and the quality of life is a million times better than LA, there was a faint feeling of Upstairs and Downstairs, like in some places in the UK.
I’ve learned that while there are people who vehemently deride the flag, others staunchly defend it. If you’ve read news recently about “Silent Sam” that’s just down the road from where I live. There’s still the remnants of moonshine production in the woods next to my home. So it’s interesting living in this dichotomy, where on one hand there’s this and on the other this area (the “triangle”) is the most advanced for Bio-technology in the country, if not the world.
Bottom line is: I’m sorry you got blamed for somebody else’s decorations, which you didn’t choose, had no idea they were there in the first place, or what specific meaning it held for some people on the other side of the world. I guess, if you’re looking to criticize, that’s all you can come up with. Whomever ignored the amazing performance to find the tiny flag in the background, has to be someone looking for trouble and nothing else.
It is an astounding performance any way you look at it, worthy of The Beatles themselves.
Me too Tomas. When I see that flag the only thing it conjures up in my mind is Sheriff Hoss in hot pursuit of the orange General Lee Dodge Charger with Bo, Luke and Daisy in it! 🙂
Yup, loved The Dukes of Hazzard show back in the day. Yeeeeeehaw… My kind of driving style… That horn… Lol
and let’s not forget uncle Jesse’s moonshine was the reason for the General. Interesting how Daisy Dukes became a fashion.
Now every time I hear “Drive My Car” I’ll think of the General 🙂
Lol Tomas…. True
Such a story filled notch on your live performance belt. Oh the mystery of it all. I’m going to give you my best guess on that collection of US State license plates. I’m betting who ever decorated that room went on Ebay and bought a collection of them. The plate in question isn’t even a license plate but rather a front decoration plate put on a car here in the states which is the choice of the owner in certain states. In earlier days many states issued and required a front and rear license plate for your car so car manufacturers made a mount for them on the front and rear car bumper. While many states still require front and rear license plates 19 still don’t and guess which states, with the exception of Texas, never did? If you guessed states that formerly belonged to the Confederate States of America you would win the prize which would likely be a lovely example of the “Southern Cross”, “Stars and Bars” Battle flag of the Confederacy that is displayed on that wall with the other state license plates. Rednecks would display the flag to warn the Yankees that the South would rise again or if they had nothing better to put on the front of their car besides a plate announcing their favorite brand of beer or Nascar driver. Like with any symbol, how relevant or meaningful it is is in the eye of the beholder and I won’t get into any debate on it. I’ve never owned one so I’m no fan.
Now I’m a native Floridian and I’ve never considered Florida to be much of a member of the Confederacy because during the Civil War Florida was barely inhabited except with escaped slaves and deserters along with the Seminole Indians in the southern part of the state. Most inhabitants of Florida are transplants from the North that migrated in the 20th Century.
What I have always enjoyed about the DMC video was that a Florida license is clearly seen in the background when the camera pans over to Lisa during the video. Also, in case Team MLT doesn’t know it that Florida license is from Dade County where Miami is located, so think of it as “Steve from Miami” looking over your shoulders.
Ahhh, poetic justice indeed! A disgruntled bar manager and 3.3M views! DMC was the gateway to my MLT adventure. I was looking for a video of the Beatles playing that song to show to my son-in-law in order to convince him to include it in a set he was coming up with to play for a live gig he was doing the summer of 2018. Little I knew how momentous that innocent act would be to my future enjoyment!
Love this album of photographs, who was the photographer ? captured some amazing images, similar to the style I try to get from my live gig sessions – first class images – worthy of a coffee table book
Always love pictures of my favorites playing and singing!
You radiate joy and beauty and make the world a happier place
Great photos as usual! For many years that flag didn’t bother hardly anyone. You never heard a word about it really. Only in the past few years have some people started freaking out about it. In recent years some people seem to have become more sensitive about almost everything.
For some it means southern pride, others something terrible. It depends on the individual. Being a “yankee” I’ll just stay out of the whole argument!
Lol… Indeed, a Country Music themed style bar, no doubt about it … At least decor wise… Perhaps a mix mash-up of country line dancing meets Groovy Moves of 60s could work there…. Sometimes, out of the unexpected comes awesome things… This story and your gig booking there proves it… As you ‘ve said, Many a new MLTBuzzGroovies stumbled upon” DMC “as their MLT Music Discovery Song….
Yes, the Confederate flag has its colorful history, but it seems appropriate as wall decor in the place… It has the kinda Western feel to it in looks…
4 Hours of Live Gigging… Whoa… That’s getting a Real Music Workout… Kudos on tgat… Impressive… Thankyou for sharing the story and photos. ??
I love all of the license plates and western decor. Yes, the confederate flag represents a very ugly period in American history. Unfortunately, it has become a symbol of the worst… even though it’s origins are very different. I love the pictures of your early gigs!
Seeing the restaurant and the decor, Austria would be the last place that would come to mind, it looks like southern USA, or western Canada (Alberta) for sure. What a fun country atmosphere. What you and the Beatles do is music/art, and sometimes the bar managers just want entertainment to make the big bucks, but fortunately as in this case it worked out well all around, enabling you to create that awesome and most popular video “Drive My Car”! Whoever the photographer was, the close up photos I think were really well done, capturing the facial expressions and peoples feelings wonderfully. Thanks for sharing the photos and the backstory around the venue!
Oh to have that kind of energy after 4 hours of playing! You girls (sorry, young ladies) were remarkable then and still today! Beepbeepmbeepbeep all day!