I have never been big on cover bands, but there's something ridiculously charming about a Beatles cover band. It's probably because I will never in my life have the opportunity to see this band, so seeing a cover band satisfies this desire.
Rain are pretty good and they've been around since the '70s and have performed around the globe. And after their stint in Toronto, they'll be shifting their act on over the Broadway.
It's unfortunate, but I just wasn't convinced. A good cover band to me, is a band that I can lose myself for just a minute in. This band really only had me in the first bit of their set, playing their early '60s material. They played all the usual suspects - "Twist and Shout" and "I Saw Her Standing There". These songs were most convincing because they're straight rock, everything is played live.
I was really disappointed when they launched into the second half of their set as most of the tunes were pre-recorded. The Beatles managed to avoid this problem by turning into a studio band, for this reason capturing all of the Beatles' music live is super difficult - for any band.
The one thing beyond pre-recorded tracks Rain could do was create amazing sets. The only other Beatles cover band I've seen in the past go as 'The Cast of Beatlemania'. They were a good local cover band that played at smaller venues, like the Great Hall. 'The Cast of Beatlemania' were however unable to create such brilliant back drops. My favourite was the back drop for Shea Stadium. They had large baseball diamond-like lights that shone towards the audience. The ground was flooded with green lights to mimic the grass, while the screens on the side had images of the 1960s screaming fans juxtaposed with images of the crowd tonight in black and white. Additionally, the screen behind the band showed an image of the baseball diamond. I felt like I was there - they completely had me at this point.
At the beginning, they had a really great introdcution by Ed Sullivan. Throughout the show they played old commercials and TV shows that to the modern viewer seem ridiculous and obsolete, but charming nonetheless.
In a heartbeat I would see the Cirque du Soleil production Love over a cover band. I was super luck a couple of winters ago to see the documentary 'All Together Now' at the Royal, with maybe two people in attendance with me. The documentary followed the production of Love with teasers laced throughout the film. More compellingly, the soundtrack was comprised of Beatles tunes that were remixed by the honourary fifth Beatle - George Martin. Martin is 84 years old, it's really remarkable he can have more style and conciousness of music than someone a quarter of his age. For some reason because Martin revisioned the music, it's not percieved as a wrong-doing. It is rather a homage to everything they've done.
I suppose that's what Beatles tribute bands seek to do as well. Fake Paul McCartney even jumped out of character a quarter of the way through the set to highlight their mission as a band. I found this very damaging to their show because from that moment on, they weren't even trying to be that person in the show.
I would see a Beatles cover band again, it would just have to be in a small venue. I would kill to hear a band like Rain play 1960s Beatles at Lee's Palace.
My choice off of the 'Love' - there's something really haunting about the "Cry Baby Cry" bit at the end. They loop the ending bit that is given very little weight on the original version.
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