Paul McCartney’s first ever Louisville concert is a mere day away, but our town has been celebrating all weekend at To Sir With Love. An Abbey Road on the River production, To Sir With Love hosted three former members of Wings, a former member of the Hollies, Beatles tribute bands, and so much more. Below you will find my personal highlights of each day plus pictures.
Friday
One of my favorite performances of Friday night was Johnny Heywood of Wingsbanned with Stan Bullock, Rob Bridges, Jesse Jordan, and Gareth Davis who played through Vintage Vinyl’s “Best of Paul” list. The “Best of Paul” list included many of Paul’s solo hits like “Jet,” “Band on the Run,” and “Live and Let Die.” Johnny Heywood is one of my favorite performers at Abbey Road on the River. He has perfected both the look and sound of Paul McCartney.
Another Friday night favorite was The Jukebox. From Puerto Rico, this band has really proven themselves as stellar musicians over the past year. From February ’64 (Abbey Road on the River’s 50th anniversary celebration of the Beatles) to Abbey Road on the River 2014 to To Sir With Love this weekend, they’ve continued to impress me. Keyboardist Mark Beyer performed with them. To read an interview with Beyer, click here.
Saturday
On Saturday, I enjoyed listening to Sixty Four start the night out right with rocking Beatles tunes.
After that, The Jukebox performed another great show with Mark Beyer on keys.
Kevin Ashba performed solo with beautiful piano ballads.
One of the big stars of the weekend, Terry Sylvester of The Hollies, performed next with The Cryers and Steve Holley of Wings on the drums. They played Hollies hits “Carrie Anne,” “Bus Stop,” and “Long Cool Woman.” Hearing these hits live was a great experience. When Terry Sylvester finished, Denny Laine took the stage with The Cryers and Steve Holley to sing some of his tunes with the Moody Blues as well as some Wings hits. It’s amazing the difference a drummer can make. I could definitely tell Steve Holley had performed Live and Let Die with Paul McCartney on many occasions.
BritBeat also performed their anthology show Saturday night. It’s no secret that BritBeat is my Abbey Road on the River favorite. I'd wager that, if you saw their anthology show, they’d be yours too. It’s like taking a trip through time and Beatles history in just over an hour. I’ve seen them perform it many times, and I never tire of seeing it again.
Sunday
On Sunday, reserved ticket holders were treated to two special performances. Denny Laine, Steve Holley, and Laurence Juber of Wings and Terry Sylvester of The Hollies hosted a question and answer/acoustic session where they told stories of being in various bands, including Wings. Terry Sylvester spoke about growing up in Liverpool just a few minutes walk from Paul McCartney’s childhood home. He even performed a Swinging Blue Jeans hit, “Hippy Hippy Shake.”
After the session, Laurence Juber returned to the stage to play beautiful acoustic guitar arrangements of many Beatles songs including “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “I am the Walrus.” He also had a lot of interesting stories about being a studio musician.
BritBeat performed again on Sunday focusing mainly on early Beatles’ era songs, which happen to be my favorite.
All in all, the weekend was fabulous, and its intention was definitely fulfilled because I am very excited for Paul McCartney’s performance on Tuesday! Before Sir Paul takes the stage at the KFC Yum! Center, be sure to visit 4th Street Live for the free pre-party put on by Abbey Road on the River. Paul McCartney tickets will be given away at 1pm, and the Rigbys and the Nick Peay Band will perform from 2pm-7pm. For more information, visit www.arotr.com.
