BEATLES TRIBUTE OPENS PERFORMING ARTS SERIES

Presented by the Headwaters Council for the
Performing Arts
Vilas County News Review
By Barbara W. Wilkinson

Recreating several of the popular historic performances of the Beatles during their peak years in American Rock and Roll, the tribute band “Yesterday” played and sang many of the famous hits for the 2009 opening presentation of the Headwaters Council for the Performing Arts Season, “Come to the Music” at the Northland Pines High School Auditorium on September 18.  The house was packed with eager listeners, ready to tap their feet and sing along to the riveting music of their favorite recording artists of the sixties and seventies.  Using virtually the same instruments employed by the original artists—the Eickenbacker and Gretsch guitars, the Hofner violin bass, the Ludwig drums—the group recreated songs in the original keys.  Even the amplifiers, which boosted the power for the Shea Stadium show to make that performance not only the highest-grossing rock concert of the era, but also the loudest, were the same on the set.  The hairstyles, the dark suits worn on the Sullivan Show and the beige Nehru jackets worn at Shea Stadium along with British accents made the Beatles’ imitators come full cycle.

Transporting the audience to a bygone era that pleaded for peace and love, the musicians attempted to replicate the mannerisms of the original Beatles in voice and speech and in the details of each song.  Opening with It’s a Hard Days Night, the group set the mood for the evening, continually encouraging the audience to tap their feet and to clap along with the music.  Many listeners found themselves singing along with them.  The repertoire for the first act continued to focus on hits of the early years, including All My Loving, From Us to You, I Want to Hold Your Hand and I Saw Her Standing There, while that of the second act concentrated on hits from their later years of the Sgt. Pepper’s era.

The objective of the troupe was “to capture the raw energy and excitement of a live concert” rather than to present a musical history of the Beatles.  As a result, the amplification used to replicate the volume for the music and words in Shea Stadium made it difficult to listen to in a small auditorium.  Some found it impossible to remain for the full performance.  The show would have been much better had the performers simply made a lasting tribute to the famous four rather than an attempt to emulate them.  The original Beatles had a wholesomeness that transcended to the audience and a charisma that held the attention of the listener.  While the vocals and musicianship of the troupe were comparable to those of the Beatles, the mannerisms and accents were not; all of these took away from the total effect.  Still, the show was well worth attending, and the legacy of the Beatles will continue to live as troupes like “Yesterday” bring their music to attentive audiences.