Review: The Fab Four Beatles Tribute Band
Published January 11, 2005
Now my wife and I can honestly say we've seen The Beatles live in concert. OK, no, not the real Beatles, but about as close a facsimile as possible. 
While in Vegas last week we caught several shows and the best one of them was the Fab Four, a Beatles tribute band, at the V theater in the Aladdin.
These guys play everything live "without any tapes, sequences or backing tracks!" dress and talk like the Beatles and cover the band chronologically with three signature Beatles wardrobe changes spanning 1963-1966, then the psychedelic era from 1966-1967 and finally the Vietnam war (part of it) and Beatles breakup era from 1967-1970. 
Though my camera phone pictures all suck, they sort of give the feeling of the small, intimate live "shoe" to use Ed Sullivan's verbiage.
And yes, even Ed Sullivan is there - well, a guy that is playing Ed Sullivan anyway. You can find better pictures on The Fab Four Web site. Another cool thing is they mix in black and white video to accompany some of the songs.
If anybody reading this travels to Las Vegas between now and February 12 and are a Beatles fan of any sort, then this is one show that's well worth the $50 ticket price. Also, if they tour your area and the above applies then buy tickets. We would gladly pay to see this tribute band again.
The Fab Four covers over 200 Beatles song and they played several of the songs listed on this page when we saw them including: Penny Lane, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, She Loves You, Twist and Shout, I Want To Hold Your Hand, Yesterday (Paul solo), Here Comes The Sun (George solo), Imagine (John solo), Revolution and more. I didn't record a complete set list like I normally do with concerts, because most Beatles songs are very short (2-3 minutes) and I was just too into this show.
Yes, it was that good.
In fact, looking through the Beatles song list which includes dozens of hits I don't think saying that The Beatles were the greatest band ever is an overstatement. Who has been a better band over a similar, relatively short period of time? The Fab Four deserve the best grade possible. Grade: A+
A slightly modified version of this review (same grade) originally appeared at Things That Make You Go Hmm
- Review: The Fab Four Beatles Tribute Band
- Published: January 11, 2005
- Type:
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Classic Rock and Oldies, Music: Pop, Music: Rock
- Writer: TDavid
- TDavid's BC Writer page
- TDavid's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
very nice job TDavid - I too am amazed by such things. One of the best concerts/dances i have ever been to, of any kind, was a Beatles tribute band (I think Liverpool) back at college in the late '70s
These guys used to have a weekly gig in Marina Del Ray, so I saw them quite a few times back in the late '90s.
I like how they play live that keyboard solo in "In My Life" that was sped up on the original record. It's not on their song list, but I once saw them do a pretty impressive version of "Maybe I'm Amazed" - not the easiest song to sing.
TDavid,
I tried to get one of the images at Advance.net but it said they weren't working with a "This images was available at hummmmbop" (or whatever the link is)."
They work here, though still. Ah well.
I posted your review to Advance.net.
- Thank you. Temple Stark
Ahh, all images are protected against hotlinking unless I authorize them on our server (Blogcritics has my permission so they show up here).
If you email me next time specifically with the location of where these images will appear on the advance website then I'll set it up to allow viewing there ... or you could just remove the pictures from the copy. Up to you, but certainly appreciate the thought ;)
Thank you for the nod!
I'll let you know if you do it again.
- temple
You wouldn't happent o have spirnt PCs would you?
These guys are amazing! My Dad & I saw them in Windber,PA in March & everybody there had a great time. It was like seeing the real Beatles without all the screaming girls! You could hear everything. I would have to say it was one of the best concerts I've ever seen! I'm 36 and a HUGE Beatles fan, & these guys proved their worth. Awesome would have to be the best word to describe how good this FabFour is!! I really hope they come back to my area so I can get some friends to see them, I know they would have a great time!!
I was lucky enough to see the originals and I must say, I felt almost the same magic, watching these guys perform!
Truly amazing and a little scary. Almost like they were all together once again!
Great show. Worth every penny!
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/24131)
I'm continually amazed at how well some of the Beatles tribute acts reproduce the more difficult parts of the canon. Both 1964 and The Cast perform "And Your Bird Can Sing" as a four-piece in character, no mean feat. There are some phenomenal musicians on the Beatle tribute circuit, and they deserve kudos for their efforts in bringing the songs to life.
Perhaps the most amusing Beatle tribute is the short film "A Hard Day's Day". This gentle parody of a certain black and white Beatles film will have you rolling in the aisles, especially during the concert scene. Joe Stefanelli, as "John" in this film, bears an astonishing resemblance to the late John Lennon, which led to a quip from Cynthia Lennon upon their meeting, "Where were you thirty years ago?"