Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

hmmm... is your wife's name Joan? Would you ever name your son John?

Maybe one day he'd be in a Beatles tribute band.

These guys are really good. Check out the video of Hey Bulldog. IMHO Paul Sacco does one of the best Paul McCartneys that I've seen so far. He even looks somewhat like Macca.

http://www.meandmymonkey.com

Actually, my wife is the luvly Arianne Lennon. And no, Sean and John and Julian were vetoed a long time ago...

Oddly, so was Kyoko....

Holy cow... check out the video "The Early Years" from these guys. They are GOOD .... freakishly good.
John's vocals are a little too strained, but thats a small criticism.
These guys sound good and look good (especially George).

http://www.americanenglishbeatles.com/

How about Ivan Ilych? (Easy, Kent, it's just a joke...)

The 'look and feel' component of The Beatles, eh? Well, I s'pose I could judge the 'look' component as well as the next guy, but the 'feel'? I wouldn't want to be crushed against the side of a Rolls Royce by a thousand screaming adolescent girls trying to make that determination...

...or do they not re-create that part?

No, they dont (and cant) recreate that part. But when you are at a REALLY good Beatles recreation concert you can use your imagination to get a glimpse into what it might have been like to attend a Beatles concert back in the early 60's..... and this is especially true when the crowd gets into it and contributes their part of Beatlemania.

A. E. was in Chgo 6 years ago, when I was still there. I saw one of the local fabs bands but not this one. Can't remember the name of that one, though.

A few of the others....(with my humble comments attached):

BEATLADS
Birmingham, Alabama
Audio clips on this site are really bad quality, but they might sound good with a better recording.
PAY RANGE: $700-$2400 per event
http://www.gigmasters.com/artists/TheBeatlads/



EIGHT DAYS A WEEK
Cincinnati, Ohio
Good quality recordings but vocals over-processed. Technically good, need more energy.
PAY RANGE: $1200-$3600 per event
http://www.gigmasters.com/artists/EightDaysAWeek/



BEATLEGACY
Elmira, New York
Not bad, but they dont capture the sound as well as the bigger name tribute bands can.
PAY RANGE: $1600-$7200 per event
http://www.gigmasters.com/TributeBand/62/



AZ BEATS
Gilbert, Arizona
Technically ok. Their video reveals their pudgy middleaged George, but a pretty good job all-around.
$3600-$10000 per event
http://www.gigmasters.com/coverband/AzBeats/



THE YELLOW SUBMARINES
St. Johns, Michigan
Definitely grade B- as these things go... the 40-50 crowd doing their thing... more power to them, I say.
$900-$1800 per event
http://www.gigmasters.com/rock/TheYellowsubMarines/



THE CAVERN BEAT
Chicago, Illinois
Not bad, but not great. Another decent tribute band playing in a local area.
PAY RANGE: $800-$3200 per event
http://www.gigmasters.com/rock/TheCavernBeat/

"AbbeyRoad has provided the ultimate Beatles tribute show for over a decade."

These guys have a pretty high opinion of themselves but after looking at their videos, I dont think it's deserved.

http://www.abbeyroadbeatlestribute.com

Agree with the hyperbole about these guys...don't particularly like the sound too much and the look is everything wrong with a tribute band as discussed ad naseum....their version of "From Me To You" on their website is so dead and dreadful it makes one wonder...I'm still going with The Fab Four as my #1 although I do agree with your earlier comment Kent that the ReTurns setlist is the most original and would probably be the most fun to hear played well

>>their version of "From Me To You" on their website is so dead and dreadful

yup... Beatles on ludes

Listening to most of these guys it's clear how important 1) Ringo was to keeping the energy going and 2) it is to have a good drummer in these tribute bands, if for no other reason than to have the tempos of these songs hard coded in his head so that everyone has the appropriate level of intensity for each song.

My pals I mentioned upthread, for example, are able to play the songs to within 2% of their studio length (AHDN clocks in at 2:32, the last time I recorded them their version was 2:29.).

I watched/listened to the Yellow Submarines video and their version of Please Please Me really dragged.

It's a lot harder than it sounds, ain't it, Beatles tribute band guys? Perhaps concentrating on the music first and THEN the wigs is the right order? Dunno, just, you know, asking.

Really, the whole problem with these bands isn't the bands, it's the audiences and venues. If the audiences would just make as much noise as the originals did, all this talk about sound and looks wouldn't matter. One couldn't hear the band or get within a mile to see what they, or their gear, really look like.

Maybe the ultimate Beatles tribute band would be very tiny people playing very tiny instruments so that everything else scales correctly.

Alan, I see you're in So Cal. Are you going to the 75th festivities?