I went to go cover RAIN: The Beatles Experience at the Hummingbird (Sony centre) this Tuesday with Ryan. They are a Beatles cover-band that have been around for about thirty years and play almost the entire Bealtes repetoire -- they even dress up, talk, and walk like them. This is what resulted...and subsequently, will be edited into an article for the Medium...
Lonely Hearts Club Band
Andrea Grassi
I love rock concerts. I love the audience as they sing off-key, I love the lights and buzz and the action. I, above all, love the Beatles. But there are some things, some god awful things that divert me when seeing a band play – cover songs. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes it is done well. Across the Universe took a good shot at the Beatles producing a modernized sound, Sir Elton, Aretha Franklin, U2, Fiona Apple, Odis Redding – all have amazing Beatles covers bringing something else to the table. But when it is your entire repertoire, and to boot, you talk, walk, look, and sound exactly the same, it kind of annoys me. Now I know that Rain is supposed to be just what is preaches, “The Beatles experience,” and it is kind of neat to hear songs live that you wouldn’t normally. For the second youngest generation of Beatles fans out there – bow down to the awesomeness that is four gents from Liverpool who still have fans under the legal drinking age – this is a rare experience-- somewhat of a delight. But at the risk of sounding like a cynic, I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortably formal in the Sony centre --- a refined rock concert with cheesy filler dialogue.
As musicians, Rain deserves a lot of respect. They can, and do, pull off hits from the Beatles repertoire flawlessly. The show moves from the Ed Sullivan show, to Shea stadium, to Sergeant Pepper and on down to Abby Road. Of note, Joe Bithorn (aka George Harrison) got a standing ovation after the guitar solo in “my guitar gently weeps.” It was actually spot-on perfect. Rain has been doing this gig since the 70s – so they jumped on the Beatles train shortly after it had stopped. But does Rain think to themselves, as they play “I wanna hold your hand” – maybe I should write something of my own. Or “my entire success is based upon pretending I am not myself.” It is an honest living in a cut-throat industry, but I can’t help but think, if it were me, I would be crying in the dressing room every night thinking my life was a sham – an illusion – and my credibility as an artist based on my talent at mimicking genius and not exuding it.
Perhaps this is the artist in me – the ballooning ego – that makes me think this way.
Lonely Hearts Club Band
Andrea Grassi
I love rock concerts. I love the audience as they sing off-key, I love the lights and buzz and the action. I, above all, love the Beatles. But there are some things, some god awful things that divert me when seeing a band play – cover songs. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes it is done well. Across the Universe took a good shot at the Beatles producing a modernized sound, Sir Elton, Aretha Franklin, U2, Fiona Apple, Odis Redding – all have amazing Beatles covers bringing something else to the table. But when it is your entire repertoire, and to boot, you talk, walk, look, and sound exactly the same, it kind of annoys me. Now I know that Rain is supposed to be just what is preaches, “The Beatles experience,” and it is kind of neat to hear songs live that you wouldn’t normally. For the second youngest generation of Beatles fans out there – bow down to the awesomeness that is four gents from Liverpool who still have fans under the legal drinking age – this is a rare experience-- somewhat of a delight. But at the risk of sounding like a cynic, I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortably formal in the Sony centre --- a refined rock concert with cheesy filler dialogue.
As musicians, Rain deserves a lot of respect. They can, and do, pull off hits from the Beatles repertoire flawlessly. The show moves from the Ed Sullivan show, to Shea stadium, to Sergeant Pepper and on down to Abby Road. Of note, Joe Bithorn (aka George Harrison) got a standing ovation after the guitar solo in “my guitar gently weeps.” It was actually spot-on perfect. Rain has been doing this gig since the 70s – so they jumped on the Beatles train shortly after it had stopped. But does Rain think to themselves, as they play “I wanna hold your hand” – maybe I should write something of my own. Or “my entire success is based upon pretending I am not myself.” It is an honest living in a cut-throat industry, but I can’t help but think, if it were me, I would be crying in the dressing room every night thinking my life was a sham – an illusion – and my credibility as an artist based on my talent at mimicking genius and not exuding it.
Perhaps this is the artist in me – the ballooning ego – that makes me think this way.
The audience loved them. Clapping, tapping, singing, and whistling bustled from some of crowd – even the ill-rhythmus of the bunch. But can we get so lost in a Beatles trance as to forget that these are just four ultimate Beatles fans who happen to be good musicians? Am I being a prude, Jude, by saying, “hey, this is weird.”This is pretentious, existentialist dribble – the stuff only a burgeoning twenty-something trying to get her "Critic" badge can muster. Who am I to judge – Toronto ate it up...
