BWW Reviews: RAINmania at the Academy of Music

To begin, RAIN is a Beatles Tribute Band. Now you may already be wondering, why you are reading about a concert on a theater site, and the simple answer is this, RAIN is an experience.

The group was founded in the mid 1970s, but the current five long-term members have been together since the 1980s. The show is a multimedia experience that mixes live performance with trivia questions, video clips, slide shows, old commercials, and live footage of the band and audience. Four of the members adopt the personas of the Beatles, including hair, facial expressions, costumes, and voice quality. Many of these songs were never performed live by the Beatles, so Rain makes it there mission to perform the songs as they sound on the recordings. (The audience is reminded several times that everything heard is live.) The fifth member of the group plays keyboards and provides extra percussion to complete the sound.  The effect is incredibly successful and the audience gets lost in the performance.

The show follows the Beatles through four periods of their career - complete with costume and wig changes. These periods include the Ed Sullivan Show, the Abbey Road album, the psychedelic late 60s, and the longhair hippie, hard rock era. Many songs are performed - ranging from your favorites like "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "Come Together," "As my Guitar Gently Weeps," and "Give Peace a Chance," to some more obscure numbers. Whatever you do, be sure to stay for the encore.

RAIN is as close to Beatlemania as one can come. It was astonishing to see all four tiers of the Academy of Music clapping, dancing and singing along. Whether you are a Beatles fan, revisiting your youth, or introducing your children (or even grandchildren) to the songs for the first time, Rain will be a fun experience for music lovers of all ages.

For more information see the official press release or the RAIN offical website.

 

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