Adam Ippolito Brings John Lennons One to One Back to Life at Union Grove Distillery

ARKVILLE — On a humid Catskills evening, Union Grove Distillery transformed into a time machine. Locals packed the venue not only for craft cocktails but to revisit an electric moment in rock history: John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1972 “One to One” benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden. The screening of a newly released documentary was made even more poignant by the presence of Adam Ippolito, Lennon’s keyboardist that night and a longtime member of Ono’s Elephants Memory Band.

The film, One to One, captures Lennon and Ono during their most public years in New York City, when the couple lived in Greenwich Village between 1971 and 1973. It centers on the historic August 30, 1972 benefit concerts for the children of Willowbrook Institution, where residents suffered severe neglect. The concerts, Lennon’s only full-length shows after the Beatles’ breakup, have long been legendary, and the film’s release places them squarely in the context of their turbulent time.

The screening itself had a rocky start, a technical glitch within the first minute prompted laughter and a short Q&A with Ippolito while staff worked out the kinks. It proved a blessing, giving the audience a chance to hear Ippolito’s stories firsthand before the film rolled.

When it did, the opening scene was pure electricity: the roar of Madison Square Garden, the flash of a billboard declaring “War Is Over”, and the unmistakable voice of John Lennon, speaking by telephone about his new life in New York. “What I love about TV,” Lennon muses, “It’s how twenty million Americans are talking on Saturday about what they watched on Friday night.” In his own words, America offered him freedom to reinvent himself, something difficult to manage under the shadow of the Beatles.

The film doesn’t shy away from darker truths. Lennon bristled at the British press’ cruelty toward Ono, and the narrative touches on the media’s obsession with commercialism. Archival footage flashes to the Attica prison uprising, the Pentagon Papers, and Watergate, situating Lennon’s music within a period of profound political unrest. Director Kevin Macdonald and editor Sam Rice-Edwards deliberately weave Nixon’s image into the mix, juxtaposing his cheering crowds with Lennon’s to underscore the deep cultural divides of the early 1970s.

Concert footage anchors the documentary. Lennon’s renditions of “Come Together,” “Imagine,” and “Hound Dog” are as raw as they are riveting. The sequence of Lennon repeating “Shoot me” during Come Together feels haunting in hindsight, given his murder eight years later. But the night was not all foreboding, the final moments show Stevie Wonder leading a stage full of musicians and activists in “Give Peace a Chance,” a jubilant reminder of Lennon’s enduring message.  

For Ippolito, the memories are still visceral. Speaking before the screening, he recalled the lineup: “Stevie had just released ‘Superstition,’ and Roberta Flack’s ‘First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ was everywhere. Then John comes out, and the place erupts. You could feel the walls shaking.”

Asked whether Lennon’s nerves about performing after the Beatles fueled the intensity, Ippolito didn’t hesitate: “Oh, absolutely. John hadn’t toured in years, but he wasn’t holding back. Yoko’s avant-garde pieces pushed boundaries, but when John dug in? Forget it. We rocked the house. After the last chord, the crowd noise was like a jet engine. I’ll never forget that roar.”

That energy carried into Arkville, where the Union Grove crowd, many too young to remember 1972, sat rapt. The film not only revives Lennon’s music but also situates his work within the political fires of its time. Nixon, Vietnam, Attica, and Watergate all hover over the songs, reminding audiences that the soundtrack of an era is inseparable from its battles.

The title One to One reflects Lennon’s vision of personal responsibility in collective action. Willowbrook’s institution for children, the intended beneficiaries of the concerts, became symbols of why Lennon lent his fame to activism. Half a century later, the film feels like both a time capsule and a mirror.

As for Ippolito, he is happy to keep his music close to home. These days he avoids the grind of touring but continues to perform in Delaware County venues that are always packed with loyal fans. Union Grove Distillery was no exception. For a night, Arkville was Madison Square Garden, and Lennon’s call to “Give Peace a Chance” echoed just as urgently as it did in 1972.