Yesterday my wife scored some last minute tickets to see the Beatles tribute band American English at a local theater. Although small town venues can't book the biggest contemporary acts in the land, excellent performances can still be had for not a lot of money and this show was no exception.
The band hailing from the Chicago area has steadily gained notoriety even attracting the attention of Sam Leach, the Beatles' original promoter from Liverpool. Leach was impressed by American English and is now promoter and manager for the fab four cover band. They have toured to faraway places such as Tokyo, Japan, the Caribbean and even headlined in front of an audience of 50,000 Beatles fans at International Beatle Week in Liverpool, England.
As a Rock and Roll fan and lover of live music in general the show was a great experience. The band played two long sets opening with songs from the early years then transitioning on to psychedelic tunes from Sgt. Pepper's Magical Mystery Tour. The show culminated with very well done versions of iconic White Album classics such as Hey Jude and While My Guitar Gently Weeps. The Beatles era was just coming to a close when I was born so I have no memories of "Beatlemania" or the excitement generated by their American debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. Like countless other music loving teens I discovered the Beatles by listening to the original recordings on vinyl, cassettes and finally compact disc. The American English show was a unique opportunity to relive the history of one of Rock and Roll's greatest bands with all the energy that only a live setting can provide.
(My apologies for the grainy and blurry photography. In the challenging conditions of a darkened theater my poor point and shoot was taxed to it's limits.)
I still listen to many of the Beatle albums which I have loaded on my MP3 player. I never seem to get tired of them.
ReplyDeleteThose VOX amps bring back a lot of memories. I used a VOX amp with my Gibson es 335 back in my "electric" days.
Strictly acoustic now.... My EKO plays just fine.
Good music never gets "old"...
Hi John. ES 335 sure is a classy instrument with that jazzy/bluesy sound. Don't you wish you still had that one around sometimes?
ReplyDeleteWell, it DID have a nice sound but I got tired of hauling all that stuff around in the car. Hihi
ReplyDeleteMy older years focus on portability and playing in much smaller groups. I like being able to set up and play on the back porch with a few friends.
Much more simple!