It's one of the most iconic album covers of all times: the Beatles, strolling across the "zebra crossing" outside of Abbey Road studios. It's not terribly surprising then that thousands of Beatles fans flock to the site to take pictures and imitate the famous image every year. What is surprising is that there is a 24/7 live-steam of the crosswalk, and watching it is way more fun than it should be.
If you think about it, the entire situation seems like a recipe for disaster. Fans stand in the middle of the road or walk across the crosswalk multiple times to recreate the famous album cover. Cars want to drive on the road, but are constantly stopped by Beatles fans running into the street. A live-stream then captures the shenanigans 24/7. This is a disaster waiting to happen, and when it does it will all be captured on tape.
But maybe that's why it is so fascinating. Watching the stream can be likened to anticipating a train crash: you know something bad might happen, but it's hard to look away because some new tourist is always throwing themselves into harms way.
Abbey Road Studios maintains the live-stream for genius promotional purposes, encouraging fans to look for their moment on the stream or submit their crossing to the Wall of Fame, a collection of the best moments captured on tape. One man crossed the street in a yellow submarine outfit, while another placed a self-timed camera in the middle of the street, despite the oncoming traffic.
As is expected, the internet is having a grand time with this. Reddit users have the right idea, with one commenter saying "Wow, I think I've found a replacement for watching TV in the evenings," and another user saying what pretty much everybody is thinking with "Wow, this is far too much fun. I feel like I'm about to see an accident happening live, though."
Others remark "It's addictive, I keep going to close it but then some moron runs out into the road and I have to watch to see if he survives the gauntlet," while one curious viewer simply asks, "Does anybody know how often people get run over here?"
That about sums up the experience entirely. Watch the stream out of curiosity, stay because of the potential for absolute mayhem.
Photo: Hans Andersen
