Rio Theatre @
- Santa Cruz @
, CA @
- Sat, Feb 16, 2013 @
Favorite moment: After dancing to Twist & Shout (1st set climax), "John Lennon" threw his guitar pick to me! I was in heaven... @
Setlist: Twist & Shout, Strawberry Fields, Yesterday, Here Comes the Sun, Sgt. Pepper, A Day in The Life--and many more! They had so many great songs to choose from! @
Opening act(s): The Ed Sullivan impersonator was a bonus, too (but he was also a bit racy for the younger members of the crowd; we weren't in Vegas, after all!). @
The music is a win-win (no-brainer there), but these guys also really put on a great performance.
Having the audience dance to the first set was awesome; it was great to have specific encouragement/permission from the performers to dance (in an otherwise strictly sit-down venue where you normally wouldn't want to stand in front of the person behind you).
The second set was a bit more mellow and contemplative (as the real band had transformed over the course of their career together). For the second set, the expression of "George" in particular was transformed from the sideways grin of his carefree youth to the pensive, furrowed eyebrows seen in the later days of the band.
The one thing that I found jarring was "John" breaking character to talk about the assassination of the real John Lennon, rather than just staying in character and emphasizing a message of peace and optimism as the real John would have done if he were there (and, until that point, it almost seemed so). I'm sure the break was mostly for the sake of a costume change for the rest of the band because he was also talking very slowly and deliberately, and it sounded more rehearsed than the earlier banter. Perhaps he could have, instead, talked up the difficulties of immigration to a country he obviously loved.
Each band member was given the chance to shine in a singing solo and each one of them is truly talented. I would definitely recommend this show to a friend (and, in fact, I did on Facebook at the time).
Rio Theatre @
- Santa Cruz @
, CA @
- Sat, Feb 16, 2013 @
Favorite moment: After dancing to Twist & Shout (1st set climax), "John Lennon" threw his guitar pick to me! I was in heaven... @
Setlist: Twist & Shout, Strawberry Fields, Yesterday, Here Comes the Sun, Sgt. Pepper, A Day in The Life--and many more! They had so many great songs to choose from! @
Opening act(s): The Ed Sullivan impersonator was a bonus, too (but he was also a bit racy for the younger members of the crowd; we weren't in Vegas, after all!). @
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