I went to see Britain’s Finest, an act that bills itself as the best Beatles tribute band. As expected most of the crowd were old fogies on a nostalgia trip like me, but I was surprised to see many young people too. The beginning of the show started with the music of the Ed Sullivan show (which introduced the Beatle to the US), and when the curtain lifted, the four lads dressed in the classic Beatle’s gear from the sixties made their appearance and begun playing all the early favorites including “She loves you”, “I want to hold your hand”, “Help”, “A Hard Day’s Night”, “Can’t Buy Me Love” and so forth. In between songs they added funny comments spoken with a British accent that got the crowd laughing (e.g. “we now want to play a song that we composed recently about fifty years ago”). They ended the first part of the concert with the song “Twist and Shout” which got everyone clapping and dancing.
The next part of the show is the one I was interested in. Most tribute bands merely imitate the original band, which of course is the whole point, but to me this does not have a lot of artistic merit. However, the Beatles stopped touring in 1966. As a result of this, and with the exception of the “Let it Be” rooftop concert in the eponymous movie and the fab four’s solo efforts, we have no idea how the Beatles would have played many of their later songs live. This meant that the members of the tribute band would have to actually create what a Beatles concert would have been like. And this they did magnificently.
The second part of the show was preceded by sitar music played over the loudspeakers, and when the curtains lifted the band appeared in full Sergeant Pepper’s regalia playing, of course, “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and then easing into “With a Little Help from my Friends” with the vocals sung by the drummer who played the part of Ringo. This section of the concert featured songs including “Come Together”, “Hello Goodbye”, “Penny Lane”, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and a costume transition of the band members to the Abbey Road phase of the Beatles. The guy who played Lennon donned a wig, round glasses, and sang an acoustic version of “Strawberry Fields”. The guy who played Paul also sang “Yesterday” and “Blackbird” to the delight of the audience, and the guy who played George sang the second most covered Beatle song (after “Yesterday”) “Something”. The show ended with the audience singing and clapping to “Get Back”, and the band came back for an encore where they sang “Hey Jude” joined by all the audience.
I left the venue with the feeling that I had attended a concert by the real act hearing the legendary music that is still listened to today even by the new generations.
Beatles 4 Ever! R.I.P. John and George
***
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The second part of the show was preceded by sitar music played over the loudspeakers, and when the curtains lifted the band appeared in full Sergeant Pepper’s regalia playing, of course, “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and then easing into “With a Little Help from my Friends” with the vocals sung by the drummer who played the part of Ringo. This section of the concert featured songs including “Come Together”, “Hello Goodbye”, “Penny Lane”, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and a costume transition of the band members to the Abbey Road phase of the Beatles. The guy who played Lennon donned a wig, round glasses, and sang an acoustic version of “Strawberry Fields”. The guy who played Paul also sang “Yesterday” and “Blackbird” to the delight of the audience, and the guy who played George sang the second most covered Beatle song (after “Yesterday”) “Something”. The show ended with the audience singing and clapping to “Get Back”, and the band came back for an encore where they sang “Hey Jude” joined by all the audience.
I left the venue with the feeling that I had attended a concert by the real act hearing the legendary music that is still listened to today even by the new generations.
Beatles 4 Ever! R.I.P. John and George
***
If you like this blog you can have links to new blog posts delivered to your e-mail address. Please click here.
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