IF YOU LOVED THE BEATLES
YOU WILL LOVE “RAIN”
By Iride Aparicio
Photos by: Richard Lodvrich
The BEATLES as they appeared in the Ed Sullivan Show
SAN JOSE,CA – For those who remember the BEATLES and love their music, the sounds and sights in “RAIN, a tribute to the BEATLES” will bring them back to the 60’s, in a show that represents the BEATLES, the musicians/composers/singers performing the full range of their discography live on stage, including the most complex and challenging songs that the BEATLES (as a group) recorded.
The High-Tech, all-new BEATLE’s concert that will be presented for only five performances at the San Jose’s Center for the Performing Arts (255 Almaden Blvd. in San José) includes updated sets with LED High-Definition screens in a multi-media content presentation which includes new songs included in the 2015 tour.
The Cast of RAIN as the Beatles
Starring: STEVE LANDES in Vocals, Rhythm guitar, Piano y Harmonica. JOEY CURATOLO, in Vocals, Bass, Piano and Guitar. JOE BITHORN in Vocals, Lead Guitar, Guitar Synth. And Citar, RALPH CASTELLI in Drums, Percussion and Vocals, and MARK BEYER in Keyboard and Percussion, the show is a two hour representation of different BEATLES’ concerts.
While the audience learns nothing about the private lives of each of the four members of the group: Song composers: GEORGE LENNON and PAUL McCARTHY, GEORGE HARRISON and RINGO STARR we learn that most of the songs in the program were written by LENNON and McCARTHY with the exception of “Live and Let Die” written by McCARTHY and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “My Sweet Lord” written by HARRISO All the songs are sung as we see a series of projected graphics, that transport us to the l960's through, television commercials, short clips showing the places the group visited, clips demonstrating the hysteria the group caused among the teenage girls, to the extreme of some of them fainting, during their concerts. The clips show also the adoration of fans in cartoons, with the fans following the group everywhere they went.
Historically, we are also shown clips of the times: Several pictures of the BEATLES’ journey in American starting with the ED SULLIVAN SHOW on February 9, l964. The BEATLES at the Cow Palace in San Francisco in l965. Historical figures: such as Presidents Richard Nixon, and Lyndon Johnson. Many psychedelic pictures, clps of their visit to India, and at the end,of the show a short movie showing segments of the Vietnam War: soldiers walking in the jungle. Flying airplanes dropping bombs. Students on American colleges’ campuses protesting the war, shouting “we won’t go” and burning their “draft cards.”
And on the stage, the group continues playing and singing surrounded by signs of “Love” and psychedelic multi-color lights as we hear songs such as: “I want to hold your hand, “Yesterday,” “Hard Day’s Night,” “Hey Jude” to mention a few, all the songs we have heard many times before, and even memorized.
The BEATLES after their trip to India
The two hours watching “RAIN” are two hours of music, clapping, dancing of raising our arms over and heads swaying them to both sides, and even singing along with the group in chorus. They are sheer fun. For many, they are DÉJÀ VU. Similar to embarking on a tour to the past, and watching, as sights, all their memories passing by.
The voices of these “BEATLES” are good, and they blend well when singing together. The instrumentations of their songs is creative, with each sound carefully monitored and all the effects in place. The actors, playing the BEATLES, even look and like the “real” ones.
According to the program, they were not onlytrained to sing like the BEATLES, but also to master every gesture and nuances of the legendary group (when they were singing in a live performances) These "BEATLES" were also were trained to vocalize the lyrics well and produce each one of their sounds as close to the sounds of the voices of the legendary foursome.
And though the nostalgia, the time goes by fast. The show is over, but by the smiles on the faces of the audience one could tell that all enjoyed it.
The Cast of RAIN after the BEATLES adopted LOVE as their mantra
The show ends, on a set that resembles the inside of a Catholic church, with four big parallel panels simulating Stained glass panels with pictures of saints, Jesus and the Virgin Mary, two in each side, and in the center a round multicolor panel shaped like the stained Glass Rosetta window inside the church of Notre Dame in Paris, Frances. And with a big sign reading “The War Ended,” (meaning the Vietnam War) we hear the last song which is “Let it Be” as is trying to express in its lyrics, the world’s longing for peace.
And paraphrasing the words from The Philadelphia Inquirer's witer, if I have asked the audience, Did you like RAIN? On that night, all could have responded: Yeah, yeah, yeah |
