Beatlemania: Lowri Clarke goes on a Magical Mystery Tour with the fabulous four.
The Bootleg Beatles have been together for 30 years. That’s more than three times the length of time that the actual Beatles were together. (They did all that in just eight years.) Tonight is the 30th anniversary of the greatest and most authentic tribute band on earth – and they celebrate with a gig in the Royal Albert Hall.
The Bootleg Beatles have polished their act so succinctly that they even move like the great men. Paul chats to the audience in that rambling, sing-song way, his Scouse accent pitched high and sweet. The camaraderie they have on stage makes you smile. They are humble, and courteous – congratulating each other and their ‘wonderful orchestra’ multiple times.
They open with ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’, and everyone gets to their feet. ‘She Loves You’ follows swiftly, then they zip onwards an album to ‘Hard Day’s Night’ to sing ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’. The rapidity with which they reel through the hits makes you appreciate how many albums The Beatles fired out in their brief time at the top. An average of two a year.
What tonight’s show succeeds in being – as well as a great gig – is a history lesson in the Beatles back-catalogue. During the ‘Please Please Me’ era they bow after each song, affecting the bright-eyed delight the young musicians must have felt on stage with their hits being drowned out by the screams of thousands of girls.
They chat between songs in effortless Liverpudlian accents. It’s possible and likely that the band have been living their characters for so long they have actually adopted many of their characteristics. ‘Taxman’ is introduced and sung by George, followed by ‘Eleanor Rigby’, ‘Paperback Writer’, and ‘Yesterday’ with a string quartet. It’s an educating process; they tell you who wrote each song, switch instruments, and chat about the era. Ringo gets on the mic for the first time to sing ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’.
During the interval the band change to emerge in 1967 – slap bang in middle of the Sergeant Pepper’s era. Dressed in the familiar psychedelic parodies of military uniforms, John tells us that George has just got back from India and “had a great trip”. Ho ho.
‘A Day in the Life’ is obviously brilliant, ‘I am The Eggman’ is introduced by John saying, “This is actually an Oasis song,” and then Paul gets on the piano and plays ‘Hey Jude.’ You can feel the warm nostalgia emanating from the crowd, the majority of which would have likely been around when The Beatles were still together.
Thousands of voices rise up to fill the Royal Albert Hall, ‘Na na na na na na.......’ I can feel the strength even now. Hands in the air, eyes closed, I have thrown myself back in time and am actually seeing The Beatles. And this is why the Bootleg version is so good – so perfect. They allow you to do just that.
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