Review: RAIN - A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES at The Music Center At Strathmore

Save for an impromptu (and now infamous) concert on the roof of Apple Records on January 30, 1969, The Beatles gave their last real, live concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, on August 29, 1966. Tickets were between $4.50 and $6.50, and even though Beatlemania was in full swing, only 25,000 tickets were sold, leaving nearly 17,500 seats empty. After four opening acts, the Lads From Liverpool took the stage and played 11 songs. Just over thirty minutes later, The Beatles' touring days were over. Tired of trying to play over the constant screaming of fans (with the rudimentary amplification technology available to them at the time), and facing constant death threats after John Lennon's comments about The Beatles being bigger than Jesus, the band made a unanimous decision: they were officially done playing live shows. Henceforth, they would be a studio band only.

The band's break up in December of 1973, followed by Lennon's murder on October 9, 1980, guaranteed that The Fab Four would never reunite on stage; ever since, Beatles fans have been left to wonder what might have been.

A plethora of cover bands and Beatles tribute shows have attempted to fill the void over the ensuing six decades. Few have captured the magic of The Beatles with the flair and style of RAIN - A Tribute to The Beatles. On April 29th the "lads" of RAIN turned The Music Center at Strathmore into a time machine and took a packed house, full of Beatles fans of all ages, on a magical musical tour.

RAIN is an interesting production that straddles the line between tribute band and full-blown theatrical production. The musicians that comprise the group aren't "playing" John, Paul, George and Ringo - they don't refer to themselves as Beatles (either individually or collectively) during the show. They're just four really good musicians (joined by a fifth musician who provides a lot of depth on keyboards), who look an awful look like their Liverpool counterparts, doing a stellar job playing Beatles music.

And boy, can they play.

Over the course of two hours, Steve Landes (Lennon's avatar, on Rhythm Guitar/Piano/ Vocal), Paul Curatolo (McCartney - Bass/Guitar/Piano/Vocals), Alastar McNeil (Harrison - Lead Guitar/Vocals), and Aaron Chiazza (Starr - Drums/Percussion) delivered a flawless, artistically satisfying concert that was so technically perfect that I spent a good portion of the first act trying to figure out if they were playing live, or following an accompaniment track. (Much of the credit goes to keyboardist Mark Beyer, who provides almost all of the extra orchestrations that matched the original Beatles recordings.)

Adding to the experience are multiple video screens that cleverly capture the feel of the 60's. The video screens also showed a montage of real television ads, to cover costume and wig changes in the first act. First act costumes mostly covered the "mop top" look - skinny black suits and the "Beatle haircut" wigs that perfectly captured the band's early image, transitioning to a more casual look at the end of the act. After intermission, the band started the second act in full Sgt. Pepper regalia, and then things got a little fuzz, as far as costumes and wigs. Landes spent the remainder of the second act in a long, uncombed, dirty blond wig that made him look more like Neil Young than Lennon, while Curatolo reverted back to the dark suit (and corresponding wig) from earlier in the show. It's a jarring contrast, particularly during the segment of the show where they re-create the rooftop concert.

But that's a minor quibble, because the show is really about talented musicians bringing the music of The Beatles to life. (Because it's a tribute show, they are constrained by having to match the original recordings as closely as possible, and once you realize how talented the performers are, one wonders what it would sound like if they were able to put their own personal spin on the songs they are playing.)

Unlike that last Beatles concert at Candlestick, this show gives the audience (which was comprised of not only graying Baby Boomers, but at least three generations of Beatle fans), a lot of bang for the buck. The first act featured 17 songs that covered the band's first albums through Rubber Soul, and the second act featured another 18 songs, drawing heavily from Sgt. Pepper, Let It Be, and Abbey Road (including the medley from side two). Curatolo took to the piano and led the band (and an adoring crowd) through a rousing encore of Hey Jude that borrowed from the sing-a-long style that McCartney has used in concert for years, proving that even ersatz Beatles can get an audience swaying and singing along. (Ironically, although the show/band is called Rain, they didn't play that song. And it would have really been something to hear it - along with more rockers like I Want You and Helter Skelter live. But with so many Beatles gems to choose from, the greatest challenge for the creators of Rain almost certainly was deciding what to include and what to leave out.

There are moments in the show when the performers try a little too hard with the accents (both when speaking or singing) - on a couple of occasions, Landes in particular leaned too heavily into a John Lennon impression that made his singing too nasal - and one is reminded that they aren't the real Beatles. But overall, the show is a loving and reverent tribute that gives Beatles fans who never got to see them in concert a wonderful glimpse of what it was like to experience Beatlemania in person. During those magical moments, the performance is so good that the audience can imagine what it would have been like if Lennon and Harrison had lived long enough for The Beatles to reunite and perform a show like this - it's a bittersweet moment, and a reminder of just how special the lads from Liverpool were.

Set List

All My Loving

Please Please Me

This Boy

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Roll Over Beethoven

A Hard Day's Night

If I Fell

You Can't Do That

Yesterday

I Feel Fine

Day Tripper

Twist and Shout

(Commercials)

(1966 Last Tour)

Drive My Car

The Word

Eleanor Rigby

In My Life

Nowhere Man

(Intermission)

Sgt Pepper/With A Little Help

Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds

She's Leaving Home

Lovely Rita

Sgt Pepper's Reprise

A Day in the Life

Get Back

I Dig a Pony

Don't Let Me Down

Let It Be

Come Together

(Abbey Road Medley)

You Never Give Me Your Money

Mr. Mustard

Polythene Pam

She Came In Through the Bathroom Window

Golden Slumbers

Carry That Weight

The End

(Encore)

Hey Jude

Approximate running time: 2:30 with 15 minute intermission.

For more information about RAIN - A Tribute to The Beatles, click here. For more information about The Music Center at Strathmore, click here.

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