Faux Beatles

Sometimes, you just have to break out of the box.

Because of the past two years or so of the lingering Covid pandemic, Kim and I have pretty much stayed around the house. We've gone to the beach just once in that span, and we made a trip to Blowing Rock last fall. We even cancelled going to a Beach Boys concert at the Alabama Theater in Myrtle Beach last year because of Covid. We didn't much like the idea of sitting next to someone who wasn't wearing a mask while bellowing out "Good Vibrations" along with the Mike Love

So for a couple of people who feel like they're sometimes walking on the edge just going to the grocery store, getting out is a big deal.

But we made an exception on Friday. We went to see a Beatles tribute band – "Yesterday - The Las Vegas Beatles Show" – in High Point.

Make believe Beatles. A good time was had by all.

I have my issues with tribute bands. On the one hand, they are paying tribute, after all, and you have to respect that. They know they have an impossible task. And generally speaking, the musicianship is decent and the vocals are recognizable. But on the other hand, there's no way they're going to "be" the artists they're mimicking. A guitar lick might be different, a lyric might be changed, stage presence might be a little off.

Having said that, we went to see these faux Beatles on the recommendation of some friends, as well as the recommendation of one Sir Paul McCartney, who's given his only tribute band endorsement to this particular group. That's what it says in the brochure, anyway.

Plus, they're a Las Vegas act. They have to be good. So I had my expectations.

And, again, I might have expected too much.

But I say that in a kind way. The guys playing the Las Vegas Beatles did not have much of a physical resemblance to the originals. There were times when they had trouble hitting the high notes, possibly because these guys looked like they were in their 50s, at least. The guy playing Paul McCartney did a good job singing "Yesterday" without ever sounding like Paul McCartney.

The guy playing John Lennon, though, was very credible, especially on "Help." And the group did a good job on several Beatles harmonies.

The High Point Theater probably seats about 1,000 people, but I estimated there might have been between 200 and 300 people in the audience. If performers play to the crowd – if they draw their energy from a full house – I wondered if these guys were disappointed in the turnout.

Also, a Beatles audience these days is going to feature a lot of gray hair, if (ironically) any hair at all. Kim said she felt like she was in a nursing home.

But I don't want to be too critical. The idea is to have fun, and we did. The group played video montages on a large screen behind them of the real Beatles, especially in the early years, and that helped with the time-travel experience. The folks in the audience seemed to have a good time, especially the 60-year-oldish guy sitting directly in front of us, who played some emphatic air drums while mirroring Ringo's downbeats. That was entertaining.

Some in the crowd might have gotten a little carried away. When the show was over, and the band members walked past us in the aisle for their meet and greet in the lobby, some yelled "Why did you break up?" and "Get rid of Yoko!" as if these were the real Beatles. Yikes.

The two-hour show incorporated early, mid to late Beatles tunes, giving you a nice sample of the real group's progression and maturation as artists.

In a couple months, "1964 - The Tribute", will be playing in Greensboro, and we're thinking about going. We saw this group before when they played the Barbecue Festival in Lexington about 20 years ago. Those guys were good, right down to the Scouse accents in their stage banter and in their physical resemblance and sound. They do exclusively early Beatles, from 1964 up to, but not including, the Sgt. Pepper era and after. The band's stated mission is to recreate the Beatlemania phenomenon as much as possible.

And then, in October, we're going to the beach to see the faux Eagles. I'm hoping for a peaceful, easy feeling there.