The Apple band keeps the Beatles’ legacy alive

These past few years have seen an explosion of nostalgia on the concert stage so unlike those we have experienced before. We have had Cliff Richard, Paul Anka, The Lettermen, The Zombies, even Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits. Had Elvis Presley been alive, you can bet we would have had him too. Of course, the same thing goes for The Beatles. Local promoters would have moved heaven and earth to get the departed John Lennon and George Harrison up on the same stage with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

Given the situation, the next best thing you can hope for as far as shows by deceased pop idols are concerned is to watch tribute revues featuring impersonators. This is not likely to work with local audiences with regards to Elvis. Pinoys are notoriously picky with performers and Presley impersonators from abroad are either tacky at best or pathetic caricatures at worst. This however, is not the case with The Beatles, most of whose impersonators could have been cloned from the real thing. We will be getting proof of this when the Beatles tribute group, The Apple Band comes to town later this month.

Titled The Beatles Forever with The Apple Band, the show traces the musical history of biggest selling and I must say most influential group of all time for three full hours. Through the use of about 35 to 40 songs and costumes copied from covers of Beatles LPs, the revue brings back the mop-topped beginnings of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr and presents highlights like the pacesetting music of Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band down to that famous stroll down Abbey Road. It is an awesome spectacle that is at once eeriely realistic and touching for the memories they bring.

The Apple Band, whose name was of course taken from the record label founded by The Beatles and not from Steve Job’s computer brand, treat audiences to sound-alike renditions of unforgettable songs like She Loves You, I Saw Her Standing There, Help, Love Me Do, Please Please Me, From Me to You, I Want to Hold Your Hand, Hey Jude, All You Need is Love, Yesterday, Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, Let It Be, Paperback Writer, Yellow Submarine and many more.

Starring as the legends from Liverpool is a talented foursome, who has everything, from voices to appearances and mannerisms, including guitars, piano and drum-playing, down to perfection. John Lennon is David Leon, who also played the part in the movie and Broadway musical Beatlemania. Jeff Toczynski is Sir Paul McCartney. David Brighton, who was also in Beatlemania, is George Harrison. And then there is Mike Sarafian as Ringo Starr.

Guesting in the show is Michael Sherman as Ed Sullivan. Just in case you are too young to know or remember, it was The Beatles’ appearance in The Ed Sullivan Show that sent the Beatles phenomenon soaring through the roof in the US and eventually throughout the world.Mounted by Steve O’Neal Productions and George Montero in cooperation with Hard Rock Café and the Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila, The Beatles Forever with The Apple Band will be staged ate Hard Rock Café on Friday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m.; at Aliw Theater on Saturday, March 24 at 8 p.m. and at the Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila in a dinner concert on Monday, March 26 at 7 p.m.

Tickets to the Aliw performance are priced at P2,060, P1,545, P1,030 and P515 and are available at Ticketworld outlets at National Bookstores, Ayala Malls, Robinson Malls and at Tower Records/Music One. Call 891-9999 for inquiries. For reservations at the Hard Rock Café show call 893-4661 and if you want to watch these guys at the Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila, you may call 245-123.

MYX Music Awards

It is MYX Music Awards time. You have rooted for your favorites and sent in your votes. So it’s time to find out who won the trophies at this year’s MYX Music Awards. The ceremonies will be held tomorrow, March 15 at the AFP Theater in Quezon City. Red Carpet time during which celebrities will walk on the red carpet to greet fans and get ogled at by the cameras is at 6 p.m. The Main Event is at 8 p.m. See you there.