A different sort of concert review

[BlueChair]

Last night I had one of my more memorable concert experiences. It wasn't a band that I idolize. In fact, I had never seen or heard the musicians that were on the stage before last night. What I did know, is that I had purchased at ticket to Classic Albums Live, a concert series presented by one of Toronto's rock clubs, where a band tackles a classic album live in its entirety, note-for-note.

Last night, they performed two of my all-time favourite albums. Rubber Soul and Revolver. I didn't know what to expect going into the affair. I knew a band would play both songs in their entirety. Would it be a four-peice band dressed like The Beatles, arranging all songs for guitars, bass, and drums? What were they going to do about the sitar on "Norwegian Wood", the horns on "Got To Get You Into My Life", the plethora of keyboards on both albums???

The six peice band hit the stage. There were two guitarists, one handling the Lennon vocals, another handing the Harrison vocals. There was also a long-haired singer who handled the McCartney vocals and occasionally added additional guitar. There was a goofy looking bassist who sang backing vocals and played a Hofner bass precisely like Paul's. There was not only a drummer (who sang the Ringo tunes), but also a percussionist, and a keyboard player, which made me happy. How could they handle many of the songs without a keyboard, anyway?

The second they broke into "Drive My Car" I knew this would be an exciting and interesting evening. Almost as exilerating as the band was the audience itself. Regardless of age, race, and gender, the audience was all into it, smiling and singing along.

Still, I wondered what they would do about the instrumentation. "Rubber Soul" came off without a hitch, though rather than using a sitar, they used an electric instrument with a sitar effect (sounded great anyway).

Revolver was the album that the Beatles started using more interesting instruments. After "Taxman", I was put in a state of awe when I saw a string quartet enter the stage for "Eleanor Rigby." They did Revolver just as well as they did Rubber Soul, with guest musicians on horns ("Yellow Submarine, "Got To Get You Into My Life"), strings, and just about any other instrument they needed. Even the Indian-styled "Love You To" sounded precisely like the album version.

Many of these songs are ones that The Beatles together or solo have never played before like "You Won't See Me", "The Word", "I'm Only Sleeping", etc. It was thrilling to see them put to new life on stage. I don't know if these guys play anywhere other than Toronto, but check them out of they do!

As an encore, they did several other Beatles hits from the 1965/1966 era such as "I Feel Fine", "Paperback Writer", and "We Can Work It Out."

I'm still reeling! I never thought a cover band would stimulate me so much.

[Pov]

What was the band's name? Are they just a Beatles cover band or do they have any original stuff?

[BlueChair]

I think they were just a bunch of musicians assembled specifically for this Classic Albums Live series. They didn't seem to have a band name.

According to ticketmaster, they're doing a Classic Albums Live Rubber Soul/Revolver show in Orlando in June. I assume it's the same band.

Here's the website:

http://www.classicalbumslive.com/