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Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles – DPAC concert review – January 2012

retroDan — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:20:27 +0000

When a local radio station gave me tickets to see Rain, a Beatles tribute band, I really didn’t know what to say at first. I mean, I’m a life-long Beatles fan and for me to see a Beatles cover band just felt sort of blasphemous, you know what I mean? Why should I support a band that makes a living off of music that they have absolutely nothing to do with?? Come on, I’d go see Paul or Ringo in a heartbeat but these guys??? I mean, who are these guys? Yes, I understand that Rain is one of the bigger Beatles tribute acts and they even did a stint on broadway. But, I just didn’t feel the need to see some faux-Beatles group.

So, after all of my whining and huffing & puffing, I ended up realizing that I could simply just do this for my ten year old son. Yes, chalking this whole thing up to my kid’s musical education gave me a reason to go to this show.

Anyway, Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles, were scheduled for two performances at the Durham Performing Arts Center this past week. My son and I attended the tuesday night show.

Essentially the show is a live recreation of the Beatles’ musical career from ’62 to ’70. In addition to the band playing and looking like the Beatles, there are elaborate stage setups, synchronized lighting and videos. The goal is to transport the audience back to the ’60′s. They even show TV commercials from the era on the video screens to set the mood.

Honestly, the concert was better than I expected. It all sounds cheesy on paper but the whole show was actually a fun experience. The band did a great job in trying to recreate all the sounds correctly which is a tough feat since most of the audience knows these tunes backwards and forwards. And kudos to the stage and lighting designers. The visuals were very well done and took the show beyond merely just being another run of the mill Beatles tribute night. There were four stage design changes to cover the major eras – “The Ed Sullivan Show” setup, “Shea Stadium”, “Sgt. Peppers” and the “Let it Be/Rooftop” setting.

It wasn’t all perfect though. There were some lyric flubs here and there, and the synths covering the string parts on “Yesterday” and “Eleanor Rigby” were mixed way too loud during the songs. And quite frankly the mimicry including the body movements/mannerisms and the heavy accents when speaking with the audience kinda got old after a while.

A highlight for me was during the “acoustic set” when they played songs like “Girl”, “In My Life” and “I’ve Just Seen a Face”. It felt a bit more natural during this set since it didn’t rely heavily on visuals or mimicry. It felt less constrained and they even did an extended guitar jam during “I’ve Just Seen a Face” which was a nice change of pace when everything else was almost a note for note carbon copy of the records.

All in all, my son and I had a fun night singing along to a bunch of Beatles tunes. Rain did a commendable job in recreating the look and sound of the liverpool lads. Nothing earth shattering here but it’s great to be able to share the experience with your kids.

retroGrade: B

Rain : A Tribute to the Beatles
at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC)
January 17, 2012

the musicians (as far as I can recall from the band introductions at the end of the concert):
Steve Landes, Mac Ruffing, Tom Teeley, Douglas Cox and Chris Smallwood

the setlist at the January 17, 2012 show (again, I didn’t take extensive notes so I might be missing a couple songs…):
I Want To Hold Your Hand
All My Loving
This Boy
I Saw Her Standing There
A Hard Day’s Night
I’m Happy Just To Dance With You
Yesterday
I Feel Fine
Day Tripper
Twist and Shout
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
A Little Help From My Friends
Eleanor Rigby
Strawberry Fields
When I’m 64
Sgt. Pepper (reprise)
A Day In The Life

(intermission)

Hello Goodbye
I Am The Walrus
Girl
In My Life
Do You Want to Know a Secret
I’ve Just Seen a Face
Come Together
Get Back
Revolution
The End

(encore)
Give Peace A Chance
Let It Be
Hey Jude

2012 Rain tour schedule:
Jan 25, 2012 Wheeling, West Virginia Capitol Music Hall
Jan 26, 2012 Hershey, PA Hershey Theatre
Jan 27, 2012 Providence, RI Providence PAC
Jan 28, 2012 Wallingford, CT Oakdale Theatre
Jan 29, 2012 Lowell, MA Lowell Memorial Auditorium
Jan 31, 2012 – Feb 5, 2012 Philadelphia, PA Academy of Music
Feb 8, 2012 – Feb 9, 2012 Flint, MI Whiting Auditorium
Feb 10, 2012 – Feb 11, 2012 Cleveland, OH Palace Theatre
Feb 12, 2012 Grand Rapids, MI DeVos Performing Hall
Feb 14, 2012 – Feb 16, 2012 Rochester, NY Auditorium Theatre
Feb 17, 2012 – Feb 19, 2012 Buffalo, NY Shea’s Performing Arts Center
Feb 21, 2012 Erie, PA Warner Theatre
Feb 22, 2012 – Feb 23, 2012 Elmira, NY Clemens Performing Arts Center
Feb 24, 2012 – Feb 26, 2012 Scranton, PA Scranton Cultural Center
Feb 29, 2012 Sioux Falls, SD Washington Pavilion
Mar 1, 2012 Milwaukee, WI Milwaukee Theatre
Mar 2, 2012 Madison, WI Overture Center
Mar 3, 2012 – Mar 4, 2012 Minneapolis, MN Orpheum Theater
Mar 13, 2012 Bellingham, WA Mount Baker Theatre
Mar 14, 2012 Kennewick, WA Toyota Center
Mar 15, 2012 Medford, OR Ginger Rogers
Mar 16, 2012 – Mar 18, 2012 Reno, NV Pioneer center
Mar 20, 2012 Albuquerque, NM Popejoy Hall
Mar 21, 2012 Colorado Springs, CO Pikes Peak Center
Mar 23, 2012 Boise, ID Morrison Center
Apr 11, 2012 – Apr 13, 2012 Boston, MA Wilbur Theatre
Apr 16, 2012 Charlotte, NC Belk Theatre
Apr 17, 2012 Bethlehem, PA Zoellner Arts Center
Apr 24, 2012 – Apr 29, 2012 Dallas, TX Music Hall at Fair Park
May 1, 2012 – May 6, 2012 Nashville, TN Andrew Jackson Hall
May 10, 2012 – May 12, 2012 Tempe, AZ Gammage Auditorium
May 15, 2012 – May 16, 2012 Des Moines, IA Civic Center of Greater Des Moines
May 17, 2012 Wausau, WI Grand Theatre
May 18, 2012 – May 19, 2012 Appleton, WI Fox Cities PAC
May 20, 2012 Cincinnati, OH Proctor and Gamble Hall

for more information, check out the band’s official website: RainTribute.com

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A look at McCartney’s guitars with Keith Smith

retroDan — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:10:17 +0000

Here’s an interesting lil’ video clip I recently came across featuring an interview with Paul McCartney’s long time guitar tech Keith Smith (or as Smith says in the interview, “Paul’s Technical Manager”), backstage at the Israel gig in 2008. It’s a guitar fanatic’s dream to get to see some of the rare & valuable instruments Sir Macca uses on tour. And this is as good as it gets for most of us since we’ll never see these guitars up close and in person. Smith shares some neat tidbits about the various vintage guitars including the 1963 signature Hofner bass, the Epiphone acoustic and the extremely rare left handed Gibson Les Paul goldtop.

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Paul McCartney joins Ringo Starr on stage for Birthday

retroDan — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:23:33 +0000

holy crap! Paul McCartney joined Ringo Starr on stage last night to sing “Birthday” to celebrate Ringo’s 70th birthday!!

Ringo and his All-Starr band had a gig at Radio City Music Hall in NYC and played their usual set. But it wasn’t just another ordinary day, it was Ringo’s 70th b-day. So to commemorate the occasion, a whole slew of famous friends attended the show. Most came on stage to singalong to “With a Little Help from My Friends” including Yoko Ono, Jeff Lynne, Joe Walsh and Max Weinberg. But the biggest thrill of the night came afterwards when Sir Paul put on his signature Hofner bass and counted out the start of “Birthday”. Definitely an amazing moment. Thankfully it was captured on video for all to enjoy. kudos to the original uploader for sharing the video clip!

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The Beatles – remastered – to be released 09-09-09

retroDan — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:00:34 +0000

Like most Beatles fans, I’m a bit torn about the remastered albums being released in September. I mean, do I really need to purchase ANOTHER set of CDs that I already own? As a fan, I really DO want to get the newly remastered versions but I don’t think my wallet can take the hit. I’ll definitely wait to hear the verdict on whether there’s a clear distinct difference in the audio quality. and although it would be great to just get the whole entire set, I might just end up choosing specific titles that are my personal must-haves: Abbey Road, Revolver, Sgt. Peppers and the White Album.

additional tidbits about the CDs:
- release date: September 9, 2009
- each release features extended liner notes, original artwork and additional rare photos
- each release will contain a short “making of” documentary
- besides the original studio albums, Past Masters Vol. I and II will be released as well
- a box set of the CDs will be released. one set in stereo. a separate set in mono.
- the complete remastered titles are: Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night, Beatles for Sale, Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles (The White Album), Abbey Road, Let It Be, Past Masters, Yellow Submarine

And here’s some additional info on the remastering process from the official press release:
The re-mastering process commenced with an extensive period conducting tests before finally copying the analogue master tapes into the digital medium. When this was completed, the transfer was achieved using a Pro Tools workstation operating at 24 bit 192 kHz resolution via a Prism A-D converter. Transferring was a lengthy procedure done a track at a time. Although EMI tape does not suffer the oxide loss associated with some later analogue tapes, there was nevertheless a slight build up of dust, which was removed from the tape machine heads between each title.

From the onset, considerable thought was given to what audio restorative processes were going to be allowed. It was agreed that electrical clicks, microphone vocal pops, excessive sibilance and bad edits should be improved where possible, so long as it didn’t impact on the original integrity of the songs.

In addition, de-noising technology, which is often associated with re-mastering, was to be used, but subtly and sparingly. Eventually, less than five of the 525 minutes of Beatles music was subjected to this process. Finally, as is common with today’s music, overall limiting – to increase the volume level of the CD – has been used, but on the stereo versions only. However, it was unanimously agreed that because of the importance of The Beatles’ music, limiting would be used moderately, so as to retain the original dynamics of the recordings.

When all of the albums had been transferred, each song was then listened to several times to locate any of the agreed imperfections. These were then addressed by Guy Massey, working with Audio Restoration engineer Simon Gibson.

Mastering could now take place, once the earliest vinyl pressings, along with the existing CDs, were loaded into Pro Tools, thus allowing comparisons to be made with the original master tapes during the equalization process. When an album had been completed, it was auditioned the next day in studio three – a room familiar to the engineers, as all of the recent Beatles mixing projects had taken place in there – and any further alteration of EQ could be addressed back in the mastering room. Following the initial satisfaction of Guy and Steve, Allan Rouse and Mike Heatley then checked each new re-master in yet another location and offered any further suggestions. This continued until all 13 albums were completed to the team’s satisfaction.
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You can pre-order the remastered Beatles CDs at CD Universe

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Paul McCartney – Ringo Starr – Radio City Music Hall – 2009

retroDan — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:48:03 +0000

Paul McCartney got back together with Ringo Starr on stage this past weekend to benefit The David Lynch Foundation’s
drive to bring Transcendental Meditation to our troubled schools. The April 4th concert was held at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and the event was hosted by Mr. David Lynch himself.
the highlight was of course reuniting Starr and McCartney on stage. The former Beatles performed separate sets during the evening and then got together for three songs that concluded the event: With a Little Help from My Friends, Cosmically Conscious and I Saw Her Standing There.

Other artists that performed at the show included: Eddie Vedder, Ben Harper, Moby, Donovan and Sheryl Crow.

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Cosmically Conscious

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I Saw Her Standing There

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Ringo Starr – peace and love but no mail please

retroDan — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:54:00 +0000

Ringo Starr recently announced that he will no longer be responding to any fan mail after October 20th. I’m not sure if this is some sort of elaborate PR scheme to get some buzz going but I’ve got a feeling that Starr won’t be getting any sort of positive buzz from all this. According the AP news story, the 68 year old former Beatle posted an angry video clip on his website saying that he will not autograph any fan-sent items nor respond to any letter addressed to him. He goes on to say “I’m warning you with peace and love, I have too much to do. So no more fan mail. Thank you, thank you. And no objects to be signed. Nothing. Anyway, peace and love, peace and love.” This comes as a bit of a shock to me. I mean, who knew an actual rock icon sorted through, read and responded to all of his fan mail???? I’ve always assumed celeb fan mail went directly into the dumpster. or at least sorted and then tossed by a lowly personal assistant. And why did he feel the need to even announce this to the world? Didn’t his handlers warn him about all the bad press he’d receive for dissing his fans? And it seems he’s only referring to physical mail. What about email? Will Ringo respond to email?

For further information, read the original news article from the Associated Press.

mix tape: Beatles covers

retroDan — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:37:39 +0000

how about some fun Beatles covers for today’s edition of the Retroblog mix tape.

Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs – And Your Bird can Sing : With the splendid guitar riff and wonderful harmonies, you simply can’t go wrong with covering this song.

the Smithereens – Hold Me Tight : from their 2007 Beatles cover album – Meet the Smithereens. the whole album is fun to listen to every now and then.

Sara Gazarek – Junk : sorta counts as a Beatles cover since Paul McCartney worked on an early version of this song during the filming of Let it Be. Garzarek performs a nice lounge version of it here.

Todd Rundgren – While My Guitar Gently Weeps : It simply isn’t a Retroblog mix tape without me trying to insert Rundgren somewhere. here he is performing a searing guitar solo at the end of the track. lovely.

Laurence Juber – Oh Darling : yup, an ex-Wings member doing a Beatles cover. it’s actually pretty good. Juber shows off his acoustic guitar chops here with an instrumental version of one of my all time favorite Beatles song.

Paul McCartney – P.S. Love Me Do : yes, even old sir Macca can’t help but do a Beatles cover. actually a re-recorded “mash-up” of P.S. I Love You/Love Me Do! It’s a rare late 80′s track that is absolutely CRINGE-Tastic!!

enjoy!

if you like the music, please consider purchasing the albums at amazon.com: