The flyers say: 'employing authentic Beatles instruments, amplifiers' etc.. so I was expecting to see some right tasty gear. However.... on stage, only 1 amp. A nice AC30 you say?? Sorry it was a Fender FM65R!!! Just a slight letdown for me. I'm also fairly sure that John Lennon never played through a Tech 21 Tri OD???
Anyway, here they come, lets see those geetars. Hmm, I don't recall the boys playing cheap Epiphones, either. At least the bassist had a Hofner, even it was a brand new one with shiny everything, instead of a real one like I had in '64. Trouble was, it was a lefty and he was a righty!! In the second half, the John character came out with a "John Lennon" signature Ricky, so that look was great.
So, gear wasn't as expected and I truly loathe guitars and especially bass through the PA, but I guess that's the way of today's shows, so I just have to learn to accept that its always gonna sound sub-optimal to me. The next slight downer was - the flyer says 'every song performed totally live'. Great and it was, except for the sequenced bits including the sequenced mouthharp which John was able to magically play when it was still half a metre away from his mouth and he was talking at the time...
Enough of the negatives. On to the show review.
The first half was mainly the Sgt Pepper era etc and the lads did a tasty job of the songs. Highlights judging by audience reaction, were Revolution, Yellow Submarine and Ob La Di. I just wish they'd smiled a bit more. Seeing bands enjoying themselves makes for a far better show.
Second half and they came out in the grey early era uniforms and basically showed how the Beatles in the early days were really good rockers - and they were. The audience was right into that and song after song with just enough pause between numbers to swallow a quick squirt of water before launching into the next. The band did an excellent job and I don't think too many people noticed the (very few) mistakes.
The musos:
Paul: played very well and did a great job.
George: pretty much nailed every line, although tonewise - not so close at times, with distortion far too much
John: fluffed several chords, but wasn't really adding much on guitar to the sound anyway
Ringo: very good drummer, but it rankled for me in that he played with a far more modern style than the real Ringo ever used. For me, he let the side down a bit because of that. The real Ringo totally nailed that backbeat, but this one, not so much.
Vocals: great work!!
Overall:
I really enjoyed the show and so did the whole audience. I'd well recommend it for any fan of the Fab Four's music. I'd say, even if that's not for you, it'd be worth seeing just to see:
1. how good that music was
2. how to run a good gig
3. how to play for the audience
I'd give it a solid 8/10, with 2 marks deducted for the not so authentic gear and sequencing.
Rog
