Yesterday I took my family to see the Beatles tribute production, RAIN. It was what you would expect. For some reason I was thinking it might be more like a traditional musical, with acting parts between the songs. But it was just the four guys (and a side man) playing Beatles songs. For some reason they also performed 2 John Lennon solo songs. I bet you can guess what at least one of them was. Nothing wrong with tipping the hat to John, but they seemed somewhat out of place in the context of the songs originally by the Beatles. There were no solo tracks from any of the other members.
No big deal, eh? The music was very good. They weren't as tight as I thought they probably should have been, but the gaffes were such that yer typical 21st Century Beatles fan and/or non-"Music person" would not have even noticed. Moreover, a good chunk of the problems could be blamed on the sound guy. It was as if the band weren't used to playing so early in the day (we went to a 2:00 pm matinee), or perhaps were just a little bit tired from the concert the night before. I don't mean to complain...it was a very good show and I would see it again. A few random comments about "RAIN":
The band members do look a bit like the Beatles. I might not be saying that had we been in the front rows. But on the Mezzanine you could suspend disbelief with a little more ease. The period costumes were excellent. The light show was pretty darn cool.
The song selection was decent, though I would have chosen quite a few not on their song list had I been in charge. I was surprised they didn't play a single track from "Revolver". That wasn't good, you know? I mean, this is the record that most critics believe to be the Beatles finest work. But on the other hand they pulled off "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "A Day in the Life" almost note for note. No small feat, indeed. The highlight of the night, for me, was a particularly powerful rendering of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". It drove home the fact that George was just as integral a part of the Beatles as Lennon or McCartney. This guy portraying him was a hell of a guitarist, too. He had that Clapton solo from "While My Guitar..." down to the point of near perfection. For that matter he played ALL of Harrison's parts throughout the show with great skill and technique.
Yes, they did the ones you'd think they would have done. "Hey Jude" for an encore...how predictable is that? "Let It Be", "Yesterday", "Day Tripper", "Revolution"...you get the picture. But they also pulled a couple of surprises from the hat. The only song they did from the White Album was a nice take on "Mother Nature's Son". I definitely thought they would have pulled, from that album, something like "Birthday" or "Back in the USSR" or "Dear Prudence"...I really would have liked to see how they would tackle "Revolution 9"...but, no. "Mother Nature's Son". Not "Blackbird" or "Sexy Sadie". It's true, I'm not terribly fond of "Mother Nature's Son" (I'd just as soon listen to John Denver's cover).It just threw me for a loop that it would be the one song from that album that they chose to do. Oh, well. They sounded a lot like the Beatles. That's all most folks wanted from them. They had to play particularly well to make up for the visual gaffe of the bassist being right handed. I imagine it must be a tall order to fill, a talented bassist who looks a little but like Paul McCartney...AND MUST BE LEFT HANDED. Not too many of those models around, I'd guess.
The acoustics in the Chapman Music Hall are very good, so the volume wasn't extraordinarily loud, even though it was muddied at times (I mentioned the sound issues earlier). The audience, however, were a raucous bunch. Especially when you consider how old most of them were (I guess I should say "how old WE were"). Typical arm-waving, clap-along silliness that I am not predisposed to join in with. Insane levels of applause and cheering, or at least I thought they were considering we were watching a TRIBUTE band. Most likely it was the music, the songs themselves that elicited such an exuberant response. Not to take anything away from the band on the stage, but there is something odd, to me, about a tribute band getting such a huge reaction in and of themselves. Then again, there's no reason for me to think that was the case. It was more like a celebration of the most influential band of the last century.
The guy seated to my left was impressed. He screamed his "YEAHS!!!" and his "WOO-HOOS" at such ear-piercing volume that my ear was ringing louder than usual when it was all over. I thought my tinnitus had been easing a bit in that left ear. Perhaps it had. But we're back to square one after Yelling Boy's shows of enthusiasm. He was also a terrible singer and he didn't know many of the song lyrics. So what, though, eh? He was having a great time, likely having more fun than I was, with my critical mind in overdrive comparing the copy to the original.
All in all a very nice day. We never can think of a place we want to eat when we go out on occasions such as this...Chili's was in the running, but I assumed that there would be a long line, this being Saturday night and all. I hate standing in line in a restaurant. I wanted to eat at the Food Court in the mall, because I've been wanting another of those "whatchamacallit creamy drinks with the big tapioca balls at the bottom" that you can only find at Bubble Cafe. My son said he wanted Golden Corral. I wasn't enthused about his choice, seeing as how I just ate at Golden Corral a few days ago and that, frankly, I don't much like the place unless I am hungry as a dog. But that's what he said he wanted and I wanted his day to be a good, memorable one, so...
...so we get there, find a table, grab plates and jump into the throng at the feeding trough. My son comes back with, get this, 4 little scoops of vegetables and a tiny crab cake. That's ALL. It's all he ate...TEN FUCKING DOLLARS for this. And a glass of WATER. Next time I will insist on where we eat. It's too expensive for the amount of food that gets eaten by any of us, really, though I can shove it in sometimes to the point of getting my money's worth. Nevertheless, it will be a long time before I go to the Golden Corral again. I don't care if it doesn't sound like the thing to do on a nice family outing...I'm gonna insist on the Food Court next time. Just you wait and see.
No comments:
Post a Comment