The Mersey Beatles have performed all over world, but their first tour in the United States ended tonight in our hometown. To say they went out on a high note would be understating their performance.
The night started off with an introduction by John Lennon’s sister, Julia, and a short documentary featuring the Mersey Beatles and other Beatles tribute bands. The band began by performing early Beatles’ hits and even had the crowd shout out a few requests (something frequently done at the Cavern Club in Liverpool where they performed as the resident band for ten years). They did an excellent rendition of “This Boy,” one of my favorites from the early Beatles era.
After intermission, the Mersey Beatles came back onstage in Sgt. Pepper suits and sang some selections from the psychedelic Beatles era. They finished up with the Abbey Road era and sang some songs from the end of the Beatles career including a very fun version of “Get Back.”
Cover bands and tribute bands usually get a lot of grief from other musicians about not being “real bands” or getting recording contracts, but one of the Mersey Beatles said something very profound in the documentary clip that was shown before the concert began. He said that tribute bands are the modern equivalent of symphony orchestras playing Beethoven. My generation is never going to see Beethoven and we’re never going to see the Beatles, but we can still enjoy their music through modern orchestras and tribute bands.
