(Photo: Greg Mason)
Though they effectively dominated musical culture for seven years, the Beatles weren’t the definition of a “live band,” preferring mostly to lay down their compositions in a studio environment, where they could afford the absolute, choreographed precision that categorized their work.
Nevertheless, there are more than a few live moments in the Fab Four’s repertoire that have become cemented in musical history—chief among them their iconic appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.
A modern tribute band called 1964: The Tribute seeks to emulate that groundbreaking moment as well as the entire Beatlemania craze in their two-hour show, donning matching suits, boots and mop-tops, and taking the stage to twist and shout.
One could sit back in their chair, shut their eyes and imagine what it would be like to sit in that CBS studio of the Ed Sullivan Show all those years ago. Of course, there’s no real reason to have to shut one’s eyes: the visual aspect of the show is a stunning recreation of the Beatles at the height of the British Invasion.
Opening with “I Saw Her Standing There,” the four members of 1964 seized the stage with the sort of easygoing irreverence that made the girls swoon 40 years ago. As with any tribute band, the resemblance hinges on a matter of distance but even still they had the mannerisms, the expressions and accents down pat.
Between songs they jabbered good-naturedly, though Tom Work opted to come across as humorously struggling with his impersonation of George Harrison. Before one tune, he remarked in a dead-on impression of the late Quiet Beatle himself, “This one’s an oldie—compared to the rest of our stuff. It starts out slow and then just fizzles out.” Preparing for “I Should Have Known Better,” he quipped, “I’ve taken this red 12-string guitar, which John can’t play.”
The pseudo-Fab Four were wise enough not to take themselves too seriously, with Mark Benson’s John Lennon saying, “This is our 26th year touring—and our feet our killing us. Whose idea was these shoes?” The Harrison impersonator was none too quick to grumble, “It was yours.”
Later, Benson’s Lennon called upon the audience to hold up their cell phones and broadcast one of their songs to loved ones, friends and “people you want to annoy.”
As the audience hesitantly complied—unsure of how this corresponded with the Centrepointe’s “no recording devices” policy—Benson mumbled, “This is so wrong for a 60s show.”
Needless to say, the music was spot on, the harmonies rich and pitch-perfect. “This Boy” was a highlight, Benson’s vocal strains soaring above the crowd.
The real heart of this performance was the dedication that 1964 had to remake a moment many of the younger people in the audience, and some of the older, were never given the opportunity to experience: when the musical landscape was forever altered by four jovial Brits from Liverpool, a paradigm shift encapsulated on prime-time television and emulated nearly half a century later.