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Sunday, July 19, 2009
The night Beatlemania broke out in Beaconsfield
posted by Rick Blue at 13h42
"Replay - The Beatles" photo by Harold R
The parking lot at Beaconsfield High School was full. The line at the door was so long people had to be turned away. Inside the auditorium of Beaconsfield High, a standing-room-only audience was bubbling with excitement.
The Fab Four were in the building.
Backstage, a transformation was taking place. Four regular looking guys were getting into their Shea Stadium suits, the brown ones that look a little like military uniforms; putting on the regulation Beatle boots, the Spanish heeled kind; and, of course, donning the famous Beatle wigs.
Yes, unfortunately, we were not able to resurrect the real Beatles. But the tribute band, Replay, found by Michelle Janis (intrepid programmer of the Beaconsfield Centennial Park summer events, our own Donald K. Donald) was close enough for Rock ‘n Roll.
And rock they did.
Rain had made an outdoor concert impossible. But Michelle had not given up. She had phoned Mayor Bob Benedetti and, realizing the importance of the evening, he was able to pull the requisite strings and open up the plush 450-seat high school auditorium right away.
I sat side stage with the soundman where I was able to watch both the band and the audience. Because the event was originally scheduled for the park there were many families with members aged from 8 to 80.
Singing and clapping along, the audience was as enthusiastic as the one at the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. City councilors Karen Messier and Roy Baird had morphed into teenagers again. OK, they weren’t actually screaming. But there were a few squeals of delight.
The Paul character was the nice guy who introduced the songs: “and now, off our next LP." This was the way it was. At one point he mentioned how it was better in the auditorium than in the park not only because there is no rain but also because there were no bugs. Then the Lennon character piped in: “Except for four Beatles.” This was the exact type of in-the-moment quip that John Lennon would have added in this situation.
Replication of performers, past and even present, is a unique part of our entertainment culture. It certainly hasn’t been given the examination that it deserves. There are actors travelling around portraying Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde. There are singers pretending they are Shania Twain and Frank Sinatra (I wrote a play produced last year at Theatre Lac Brome about one of these performers), and there are “tribute” bands that reproduce exact copies of everyone from Led Zeppelin to Kiss.
A band called The Dark Side of the Moon actually goes on stage each night and performs the whole Pink Floyd LP exactly as it is - from its first note to its last. Now that's specialization!
For the audience, the appeal is obvious. They know what to expect. And they get it.
For the musicians the appeal is also obvious. The catalogue of songs exists. They are proven and time tested. The audience already exists. The name exists. All you have to do is copy the style of playing and singing and put on the costume. The work will follow.
As a veteran bar musician myself, I have felt the pull of “cover” songs. In the '70s, I was in an acid rock band. We used to improvise on Jumping Jack Flash. It sometimes went on for half an hour. But it was our own version.
On the other hand, with Bowser and Blue, I was very proud of doing “So Long Marianne” exactly as Leonard Cohen had – even as he once sat in the audience at Déjà Vu on Bishop Street. But I would never want to do a whole night as Leonard Cohen.
Wait a minute, what am I saying? Endless work in Europe and an endless stream of adoring ladies? Hmmm.
But I digress. Back in Beaconsfield, the Beatle band, Replay – The Beatles, did a great job. They played the hits of course, but also threw in some B sides that you don’t always hear. Their musicianship was accomplished and their harmonies were right on.
http://www.replaythebeatles.com/
And why was the evening so successful? And what is about this music that still holds the magic? Simply because it was fun.
Remember when life was fun?