What a sold-out show last evening! Likely the Winspear’s top concert of the year.
ESO paired up with 4 veteran musical impersonators:
–Benjamin Chadwick, as Paul McCartney, brought in on a 36-hr. basis to replace scheduled ‘Paul’–Tony Kishman. He nailed key McCartney bass lines played on a vintage Hohner bass and gave definitive vocals on “I Saw Her Standing There”and “Got to Get You iinto My Life”, leaving the audience wondering if Kishman would have been significantly better.
–Jim Owen as a credible ‘John’, especially on “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “A Day in the Life”. He moved easily between keyboards and rhythm guitars.
–Tony Teeley doing note-perfect vocals and lead guitar solos as ‘George’. The fact that he was in the Beatlemania musical and film as ‘George’ speaks for itself.
–Chris Camilleri as ‘Ringo’ reproduced all the famous Starr drum patterns in the 28 hits these guys capably trotted out from one of the great song catalogues of all time in pop music. He was even mediocre enough to deliver two shaky Starr vocals, though I must add that “Good Night” was one of the Beatles’ most underrated beautiful arrangements.
Bob Bernhardt was his usual excellent, witty self and masterfully conducted the arrangements for strings, horns, and percussion. The trumpet player deserves kudos for nailing the solo in “Penny Lane” while the horns were solid in “Got to Get You into My Life”. The orchestra even filled in nicely with handclaps on “I Saw Her Standing There” at one point.
The 28 songs included:
‘Paul’:
“Got to Get You into My Life’
“Golden Slumbers”
“I Saw Her Standing There”
“Live and Let Die” (the orchestra’s biggest challenge which was well-done)
“Long and Winding Road” (loved those ascending strings)
“Penny Lane”
“Yesterday” (with an excellent string quartet)
“Hey Jude”
“Lady Madonna” (with a nice sax solo)
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (complete with original orchestra laughs)
“She’s Leaving Home”
“When I’m Sixty-four”
“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”
‘John’:
“Come Together”
“Imagine”
“Strawberry Fields Forever” (with mellotron)
“Twist and Shout”
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”
“Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite”
“Dear Prudence”
“Give Peace a Chance”
‘John and Paul’: “A Hard Day’s Night”
“A Day in the Life”
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (reprise)
“Birthday”
“The End”/”Carry That Weight” (with a great guitar solo with George playing both trade-off parts!)
“George”:
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (arguably the best song of the evening)
‘Ringo’:
“Good Night”
“With a Little Help from My Friends”
What a wonderful evening with a greatly enhanced program and substitution at the last moment for ‘Paul’. Although they delivered on 14 songs from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the White Album, the other 15 songs were equally interesting Beatles’ classics. A Classical Mystery Tour is the best of The Beatles imitators out there and they are a must-see with a good symphony orchestra. Two thumbs way up!