A little help from my friends: The Beatles
If you think the title of my column sounds familiar, you can probably guess where it came from. If not, you should probably rethink some of your life choices. I mention this because I dished out a bit of money to see Rain this week. Rain is a world famous Beatles tribute band.
Now I understand that a tribute band probably does not sound that exciting to most, but this band is doing something very important: keeping the music of The Beatles alive.
I am a fan of The Beatles not only because of their music, but also because of the influence that they had on the world. They were one of the most influential bands of all time, and so many people seem to forget that.
Seeing Rain was not the same as seeing The Beatles, but they did put things in perspective for me. Looking around the concert I noticed there were audience members spanning over three generations.
This made me realize how much of an influence those four boys from Liverpool really had on the world. Their music was so impactful that it has survived since the break of their first album in 1962. That is over 54 years!
The Beatles have proven to be more than just musical geniuses. They were the voice of their generation. They sang and wrote songs about things people were afraid to speak up about. They became one of the leading causes of change in fashion, culture and politics.
Throughout Rain’s performance they played songs spanning from The Beatles’ upbeat early beginnings to their psychedelic days. They had a few costume changes that reflected some of the Beatles most famous looks. Evens some of the little on stage “ticks” were identical.
It was obvious that these four had really studied The Beatles and had even perfected their famous Liverpool accents. They performed countless songs including “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Hey Jude” and even one of my favorites “Across the Universe.” Every song was almost indistinguishable from its original.
Unfortunately, my experience seeing Rain was not as substantial as the experience of the lady sitting next to me. I have not lived through the uncertainty, suffering and excitement that her generation has.
By hearing songs played by men in bad wigs and stereotypical costumes, I was not taken back to a time of social revolution. But in the eyes and the ears of the woman next to me this was more than just a cover-band’s concert. This was her time.
