Yoko Ono touts John & Yoko film

Yoko Ono is pushing a 54-year-old concert back into theaters, and the hook is that John Lennon only played one full-length post-Beatles concert date in his solo career: the two One to One shows at Madison Square Garden on August 30, 1972. The new film, *Power To The People: John & Yoko Live in NYC*, brings those performances to cinemas on April 29, with additional screenings on May 3. (powertothepeoplefilm.com) Those 1972 shows were not nostalgia gigs when they happened. John Lennon, Yoko Ono, the Plastic Ono Band, Elephant’s Memory, and guests including Stevie Wonder played them as benefit concerts for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. (universalmusic.ca) The scale was big even by Madison Square Garden standards. Universal Music says the afternoon and evening shows were sold out, drew a combined crowd of 40,000 people, and raised more than $1.5 million in 1972, which it converts to about $11.5 million in 2026 dollars. (universalmusic.ca) The film being sold now is not a simple vault dump. The official site says it has been newly restored, re-edited, and remixed by the Lennon team, with Sean Ono Lennon handling music production for the release. (powertothepeoplefilm.com, secure.proctorscollaborative.org) The set list explains why this is being treated like an event instead of a museum piece. The restored film includes Lennon performances of “Imagine,” “Instant Karma!,” “Mother,” and “Come Together,” plus Yoko Ono performances including “Don’t Worry Kyoko” and “Open Your Box.” (secure.proctorscollaborative.org) There is also a practical reason this concert keeps getting revived. American Songwriter notes that the One to One shows were the only full-length performances Lennon gave after the Beatles broke up in 1970, which turns one New York benefit date into a very small piece of surviving live history. (americansongwriter.com) The release strategy is built like a one-night concert tour, not like a normal movie rollout. Trafalgar Releasing lists the film as a limited international cinema event beginning April 29, and theater pages show single-evening bookings rather than long runs. (trafalgar-releasing.com, capecinema.org) That is the real play here: take a benefit concert from 1972, upgrade the sound and picture for 2026 theaters, and sell fans a shared screening date instead of asking them to scroll past another catalog upload at home. Yoko Ono’s promotion works because the original event already had a built-in story, a famous venue, a fixed date, and a verified fundraising result. (powertothepeoplefilm.com, universalmusic.ca)