A Day in the Life

My journey ended at exactly the same spot that it had begun. Staggering half asleep from the bus, the effects of a bottle of red wine helping neither with the vision nor with the walking, it was hard to comprehend that 19 hours had elapsed since I had last stood on the exact same spot, then full of excitement and anticipation and now; well a little unsteady  if truth be told. I returned a broken, but happy, man. It had been a remarkable experience providing me with a rare insight into what goes on behind the scenes when a band undertakes, as Them Beatles did, a 420 mile round trip in a single day to play just one gig.

Sometimes things fall just perfectly and this was one such occasion. A weekend without any football coincided with Them Beatles appearing at The Cavern in Liverpool; no fan of The Beatles needs told of the significance of playing at that particular venue. Any plans of making a weekend of it were soon abandoned so it was a case then of taking up an offer of a lift to any gig outside of Glasgow. That, then, is why I found myself standing outside my flat at 11 in the morning in a dank and miserable Glasgow, awaiting a lift to what turned out to be an equally dank and miserable Liverpool.  

With the amount of travelling Them Beatles do comfort is clearly very important and their bus combines functionality and comfort perfectly with ample room for kit (and I would discover just how much kit a little later in the day) and band alike. So much so that the presence of my own rotund body didn’t, I hope, significantly compromise anyone’s comfort too much.

You needn’t at this point worry too much. I’m not going to provide a blow by blow account of the journey. One bus journey differs little from another bus journey. For me at least there was the thrill of doing something a little different. For the other four having to deal with the monotony of travel can’t be easy. There is at least a TV and an excellent sound system to help deal with that monotony. Not that either was used on the way down as the first portion of the journey was punctuated by yelps of excitement from the front of the bus as the football commentary brought news of goal after goal for Liverpool in their match with Arsenal.

The journey was otherwise pretty uneventful. If being blown across the motorway lane by the wind can be considered uneventful. Having to deal with traffic and the vagaries of the weather are clearly other occupational hazards that a touring band has to deal with. Being buffeted from side to side by the wind was a disconcerting sensation and the conditions didn’t make for an especially swift journey south.

The Cavern

In due course though, the bus pulled up outside the back entrance to The Cavern. With show time still well over 3 hours away there would surely be time for everyone to relax, unwind and generally recover from the journey? Not a bit of it. There was first of all the small matter of unloading all the kit. A laborious task even if there was a lift to take the gear deep down into the bowels of The Cavern.

I knew at a depressingly early age that I would never be a professional footballer. The discovery not much later of a total absence of musical talent ruled out a career as a rock and roll star too. To the list of ‘cool’ jobs that I can’t do you can now add that of Roadie.

You don’t realise just how many guitar stands are needed until you have to put them up. You don’t realise too just how useless you are at such things until you have singularly failed to perform such an operation as simple as assembling a guitar stand. Deciding that I was more hindrance than a help I left the band to continue setting up and to sound check. I had some money burning a hole in my pocket and a thirst for a couple of beers. They had work to do.

An hour or so later, as I performed the strenuous task of tucking into a pizza, I met up with the band once more. Trusted with carrying in a drum cover we struggled our way through the crowd waiting for doors to open. Nobody seemed to mind too much and I was denied then the chance to say, in a smug voice; “it’s okay I’m with the band”. Another ambition cruelly thwarted.

As I sat relaxing on the dressing room sofa (I must have carried at least couple of guitar cases to the lift earlier and I was tired) bits of paper came out as it was time to confirm the set list. I decided at this point that it was time for me to leave. I didn’t want to know in advance what the set would comprise of and I wanted the Fourth Wall to be rebuilt; for Clark, Joe, Craig and Grahame to become once more in my eyes John, Paul, George and Ringo.

The view from the stage

Doors were open by now and the seats down by the front of the stage were already occupied. Not that this bothered me too much. I managed to find a nice spot just at the back of the seated area. This gave me a more or less unobstructed view of the stage but also the chance to see what was going on around me.

For a variety of reasons I must confess not to being a huge fan of the main part of The Cavern. Or at least when it is, as it was on this day, crammed full of stag and hen parties. The Cavern Live Lounge though is a different matter. Yes much of the audience were well lubricated come the end of the night but they were there for the music and for a good time.

They weren’t to be disappointed on either front with Them Beatles producing a genuinely stunning performance. They came on stage around 8:45pm and midnight had long since passed by the time they finished. There were breaks between their three sets but that’s near enough 3 hours on stage. No chance of the sell out audience being short changed.

As already mentioned Them Beatles performed three separate sets taking the audience virtually through the entire Beatles story. During the first of those three sets Them Beatles had the rare opportunity of performing a song for the very first time, not that you would have noticed from their performance of ‘I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party’ that they were doing it for the first time. I look forward to seeing that feature in their set in the future.

I’ve seen ‘This Boy’ many times before but still love the three part harmony being performed at the one microphone; a very simple concept but visually a very striking one.

The second set took us into The Beatles more psychedelic phase complete with full Sgt. Pepper outfits. ‘A Day in the Life’ was, as always, utterly fantastic but for once it wasn’t my own personal highlight from that section of the show. That went to ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ with ‘Flying’ a very close second.

We moved onto the Apple years for the closing set. By now the audience, which coincidently contained a large Glaswegian contingent, were in full flow and the band visibly fed off that. We were treated to a number of tracks from the White album including ‘Glass Onion’ and a remarkable rendition of ‘Dear Prudence’. ‘Let it Be’ was performed beautifully and all too soon we were into ‘Get Back’ and the end of the show.

Them Beatles though were going to have to work overtime. They were back on stage for an encore in next to no time and perhaps surprised many by performing ‘Free as a Bird’ which I first heard them play at the Liverpool Philharmonic during Beatle Week 2013. Requests from the audience saw them continue with ‘Rocky Racoon’ and ‘The Night Before’ before the show finally came to an end with ‘Hey Jude’.

Work not quite done the band came out to pose for photographs and chat to the audience before, eventually, everyone started to drift off into the night.

It’s usually at this point that my night is at an end too. Of course this time I had to wait for the band to pack up. Again I tried to be of some assistance but really should have realised that if you are going to move a case from the dressing room to the lift then it is best to check if the person has finished with it first.

After the magic is over

I was surprised at just how quickly it took to get the gear into the back of the bus but it was still 1:40am before all was safely tucked up in the back of the bus. Before we could leave Liverpool though there was still some refuelling to do. Not just the bus itself but for four hungry and thirsty musicians and one equally hungry and thirsty hanger-on. Thanks to Liverpool liberal licensing laws it was possible for those not driving, which included my good self, to acquire some beer and wine to help speed along the miles back to Glasgow.

And what of the journey back? Well there was plenty of music, plenty of chat and plenty of flatulence. Lots of flatulence.

I managed to drop off to sleep for the last 40 miles or so of the journey and at a little after 6am I found myself deposited outside my flat. Which I suppose brings us back to where this story began.

For me my day was nearly at an end. In just a few minutes I would be tucked up in bed. I was lucky though; I was one of the first to be dropped off. For others there was a bit to go yet and gear to be once more unpacked. For some it was 8am before the key went into the door. I had had a great day; a day that gave me a much greater insight into the sacrifice that four incredibly talented musicians make. For the audience at The Cavern it was a three hour show and a smashing night out. For the band, one of whom was celebrating their birthday and whose girlfriend is due to give birth in just a few weeks, it was another of many days and nights spent away from the family. For me it was a break from the norm. For them it was a job; their living. That is worthy of our respect and admiration. They’ve certainly got mine.

Tom Evans

Music Soothes the Soul

This blog has been in hibernation now for several months but the time has now come to blow the dust off it.

At the end of July my life, and that of my family, was turned completely upside down by a knock on my door at a little after midnight one Tuesday night. My late night guests were the police informing me that at approximately 4pm the previous afternoon my mother, while on holiday with a friend in Pitlochry, had been killed in a car accident.

My life pretty much fell apart at this point. Even now, over four months later, it is difficult to comprehend what has happened and to come to terms with the fact that my mother, a constant source of love and support, is no longer a bus journey away or on the other end of the telephone. I miss her constantly and I suspect I always will.

What though has the above to do with Them Beatles?

There are two reasons why I start this blog entry by talking about my mother.

Firstly, the very last time I visited my mother the topic of conversation was Them Beatles, the pleasure that we derive from going to their gigs and our excitement about our first ever trip to Beatle Week which was just over a month away at this point. I was delighted that during that last visit I got the chance to show my mother a picture of a kind gift that I received from the band. I should note though that I still have a red neck from getting up on stage in Livingston to receive it. That may well have been their intent all along.

Secondly, and probably more importantly, I want to acknowledge just how much going to gigs, meeting old and new friends and generally losing myself in the music has helped during an incredibly tough period. People have provided support to me, and Alison, at gigs without even realising they are doing so. Music, and good company, truly can soothe the soul.

One decision that we had to make after my mother’s death would be whether we would still attend Beatle Week just a few weeks later. Alison left the call to me. Everyone I spoke to felt that I would find it beneficial to get away from it all for the week. In truth it wasn’t a difficult decision to make. Where better to start the healing process than in Liverpool surrounded by those that share your love of The Beatles?

First though there was a pre Beatle Week jaunt one Sunday afternoon to Irvine to catch Them Beatles perform at Freckfest; a weekend long music festival.

Them Beatles were bringing the event to its’ conclusion and while it was obvious that the event was a well organised one by the Sunday afternoon it was clear that it was starting to wind down. Them Beatles though provided one last injection of rock ‘n’ roll and ensured that the festival finished on a high note. They went down a storm with those still at the soon to be no longer Magnum Leisure Centre and they would simply have blown the place away had they been playing the Friday or Saturday night rather than the Sunday afternoon.

And so to Liverpool.

Them Beatles played seven shows during Beatle Week covering just about every aspect of The Beatles career, and beyond. We were fortunate enough to catch six of the seven shows.

They must have lost pounds performing in the heat of the Cavern Live Lounge on the Thursday night. It just about floored me and I was standing at the back, bar within easy reach, and not under lights on stage.

The Cavern Club Beatles and Them Beatles shared the bill at the Liverpool Philharmonic the following night with Them Beatles taking the second half. Setting themselves an incredibly challenging set they reached new heights.

The arrival of the sitar on stage drew an ovation from the audience and an incredible performance of Norwegian Wood.

Personal highlight though came as a memorable evening drew to a close. I recall thinking that I would love to hear Free as a Bird and Them Beatles duly obliged.

Beatle Week proved to be every good as I had expected it to be and my experience is probably worthy of a blog in its’ own right. Limiting things to Them Beatles, Sefton Park on Saturday afternoon, a performance of Yellow Submarine and the presence on stage of a football proved why the Liverpool FC scouts haven’t been chapping on John’s door with a contract to sign.

Given that just a few weeks had passed since my mother’s death it perhaps wasn’t any great surprise that at times I found the experience overwhelming. No more so than on the Sunday afternoon when Them Beatles performed Rubber Soul in its’ entirety at The Adelphi Hotel.

In My Life can get me at the best of times and this wasn’t the best of times. As Them Beatles performed that song and sang about those “dead and living” I couldn’t help but think of my mother and I couldn’t help but recall that the four guys on stage came to my mother’s funeral service providing support and friendship when I needed it most. I’m not in the least bit ashamed to say that I watched the rest of that particular show through my own tears. It is a compliment to the skill in which it was performed that it so moved me.

I had recovered in time though to attend my first All Nighter deep in the bowels of The Adelphi Hotel. It was nearly 5am before Them Beatles came on stage to perform their Hamburg set but trust me it was worth the wait as they provided, leather trousers and toilet set round the head, kind of anarchic set that I imagine those in Hamburg would have been. We even had the rare sight of a Them Pete Best taking lead vocals.

It was back to The Adelphi the following day for only marginally earlier finish. Them Beatles recreated the legendary Frost Show and Hey Jude, complete with fans on stage, brilliantly. We didn’t have any tears from me this time but there was an onstage marriage proposal (Alison don’t worry – I’ve no intention of doing the same) and at one point it didn’t look like Them Beatles would be allowed to leave the stage as the played umpteen ‘last’ songs.

And so brought our Beatle Week experience to an end. Or rather not quite. As dawn was breaking and we clambered into our taxi back to the hotel we spied the couple that we had seen at every Beatle Week Them Beatles show. Warm handshakes and hugs were exchanged  with the words “see you next year” secure in the knowledge that provided we are all spared we will do just that. More new friends made.

And for me that is one of the real pleasures of following Them Beatles around; the friendships that have been forged in doing so. From Sandra and Billy with whom we spent a lot of time in Liverpool with, to Johnny and Carlan and to Jim, in full Pepper outfit, and Margaret who we met at Lochwinnoch to mention just a few names that immediately spring to mind. That really only scratches at the surface of the number of people we’ve had the pleasure of sharing Them Beatles’ gigs with.

When Them Beatles played to a virtually sold out Pavilion Theatre in September one of the joys of the evening was reconnecting with other Them Beatles fans. There is a genuine sense of community that comes with following Them Beatles. The music is obviously a huge part of it but it isn’t just that that keeps us going to see them.

The total number of gigs that we have seen Them Beatles play must now be approaching the 40 mark; and I’ve only really touched on a few that we have seen since the blog’s temporary hiatus. I’ve not mentioned a fantastic show at the O2 where Them Beatles celebrated the 50^th anniversary of With the Beatles or the last gig that we caught just this weekend at Celtic Park. We’ll be through in Edinburgh for their gig at the Electric Circus this coming weekend though and the blog will return after that gig. In the meantime we hope to see whoever is reading this blog at a gig real soon and leave you with this shaky, poor quality video from the O2 show.

Tom Evans

Bathgate Regal Theatre - Saturday June 22nd

Bathgate might not immediately spring to mind when it comes to music venues but there are few places that I have enjoyed watching Them Beatles perform at more than the Bathgate Regal Community Theatre. Having visited the venue for the first time to see Them Beatles in October of last year their return visit was a must for us from the second they announced the date. A sell-out crowd was proof that we weren’t the only people eagerly awaiting their return.

Before going any further I want to take just a little time out to mention the venue itself. It first opened in 1938 as The Regal Picture House and had seating for 1,100. Capacity is a little more modest now but it serves an important role in the very heart of the local community. Still true to its’ intended original purpose they will very shortly be marking their 75^th anniversary with a screening of the, appropriately enough, 1938 film ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’, starring Errol Flynn. We wish them well.

There are visual acknowledgements to the theatre’s cinema past throughout the venue but it was one piece of art (see below) that really caught our attention. Having managed to snap a picture of it when we arrived I’m at a loss as to why I didn’t do so again when the band added their signatures to it after the show.

I’m not sure what a Saturday night out in Bathgate is like normally but if this gig is anything to go by then any description will surely include the word ‘lively’. The concert actually provided us with a Them Beatles first; namely the presence of a stag party. They were a tad lively. Lively as a newt would be closer to the mark. Amusing if you aren’t sitting anywhere near them. Where were we? Right in the middle of them. There was nothing nasty about them and they were apologetic when Alison was jostled by them but we were relieved (our shouts of Help! came from the heart ) to find a couple of unclaimed seats at the interval and we duly moved. Typically the stag party didn’t manage to reach the second half.

In truth their presence was nothing more than an amusing interlude in what was a night of unexpected delights. The extent to which Them Beatles can dip into the Beatles back catalogue with apparent ease never fails at astound me.

Alison is sure that we have heard them perform ‘Anna’ before but I’m not so certain. Either way it was one of the many highlights from the opening set. Others would have to include a truly brilliant rendition of ‘Everybody’s Trying to be My Baby’ from the, in my opinion, much underrated ‘Beatles for Sale’ album and a storming first half ending ‘Long Tall Sally’.

The interval gave us the chance to not just change our seats but retire to the bar where it’s always nice to chat to people. A pleasant ten minutes or so was spent debating which of the Beatles films was the better; ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ or ‘Help!’. I’m not entirely sure that I emerged the winner of that particular debate. I was adamant, however, that Them Beatles were significantly better than the Bootleg Beatles. My protagonist was reserving judgement on that until after the second half. I didn’t get the chance to speak to him after the show to ask for a considered judgement but he was rarely sat down during the second half and reaction to ‘Helter Skelter’ alone suggested that he was having a pretty good time.

As we all were. The second set began with the Pepper era. Those that may have read my blog before will know that I believe that ‘A Day in the Life’ is a work of genius. Once again Them Beatles did justice to it but for once it wasn’t my own personal highlight of the night.

That came during a novel way to deal with a mid set costume change. Three left the stage leaving just John on his own. After a brief and impromptu ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ on the keyboard he treated us to a truly moving ‘In My Life’. John then left to be replaced centre sage by George whose delivery of ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ continues to improve which in itself is no easy task.

‘Revolution’ had just about everyone out their seats, Ringo had a few problems with an errant drumstick during a brilliant ‘Octopus Garden’ and the show ending ‘Hey Jude’, not my favourite Beatles song, had the whole audience singing along.

We had a couple of unexpected encores before ‘Get Back’ brought an outstanding night to a close.

Before rounding things off it would be remiss of me not to mention the fantastic sound quality. It was only after the show that I discovered that the person doing the sound was doing so for the very first time. He should be justifiably proud of the job that he did; it played a big part in the success of the night.

The band’s work isn’t done when they come off stage; there’s still photographs to be posed for in the foyer after the show and it was while they were doing that I got talking to someone who had seen The Beatles perform. I would imagine that there is no bigger compliment that Them Beatles can be paid than to be compared favourably to those that they so lovingly emulate. The gentleman I spoke to use the word ‘flawless’ when making that comparison.

We’re due to catch Them Beatles in action just once between now and the start of International Beatles Week in August so with that in mind this blog is going back into retirement for a couple of months. Thanks for reading. Meantime for more information on Them Beatles check out their website http://www.thembeatles.com/

Tom Evans   

Golden Pheasant, Lenzie and Ayr Town Hall - Friday June 14th and Saturday June 15th

It’s been a little while since I last provided an update on our Them Beatles travels but a chance meeting and a kind word (thanks Deborah) prompted me to blow the cyber dust off the blog and once again take you on our Magical Mystery Tour with us. The patter clearly hasn’t improved any during the blog’s sabbatical.  

The time has elapsed since the last entry means that we have two shows to look back on here.

We begin our Them Beatles double bill at the Golden Pheasant in Lenzie.

This was the second time that we had attended a gig at the Golden Pheasant having previously paid a visit back in April. It wasn’t a gig that we were initially intending to attend. Not because we hadn’t enjoyed the gig back in April; far from it. The band are scheduled to play there a number of times before the end of the year and we had a return visit pencilled in for nearer Christmas.

However, enter The Milliner once more; he of previous blog entries, or rather his wife Trish. She spotted a special offer that included a two course meal, a drink and, of course, tickets for the gig. Well the weather was set, un Them Beatle like, fair; we wouldn’t have the long walk to and from Lenzie Station to make so why not head along?

Sometimes it is the unexpected nights out that prove to be the best. The weather was so good that we could even enjoy a couple of drinks sitting outside. The food was decent, the company even better and the music was, naturally, first class.

The only downside of the evening, for me, was that for just the second time in the space of just a few weeks I was asked if I had seen the actual Beatles perform. Either Them Beatles are playing at venues with really poor lighting or I look older than my years. I’ll let others decide which.

With capacity restricted to around 100 or so it is uncommon the see Them Beatles perform in a pub environment like The Golden Pheasant and it is a little cramped. Any female, for example, wanting to make use of the ladies during the set almost has to duck under Paul’s Hofner bass guitar to do so. 

(Come Together at Golden Pheasant in April 2013)

The cramped conditions aren’t necessarily a bad thing though. Being so close to the band brings a real intimacy between performers and audience that you perhaps don’t always get at a larger venue. The dance floor was rarely, if ever, empty. Them Beatles are certainly very popular at a venue they are booked to appear at a further twice before the end of 2013. It wouldn’t surprise me if the owner, Lynne is memory serves me correctly, books them so often simply because she enjoys the show so much herself. I’d likely do the same were I in the position to do so.

One person that perhaps didn’t enjoy the show quite as much was George who was recovering from having a couple of wisdom teeth removed. His involvement in the show was curtailed a little; he took the lead vocals on just one song, but it wouldn’t have been obvious that he was in such pain had you not been made aware of it.

Just twenty-four hours later we found ourselves at another Them Beatles gig; this time at Ayr Town Hall. It proved to be an interesting, different, type of  night.

We arrived at Ayr train station a little before 6pm where we gained our first hint that this evening was going to be a little different from the norm.  Getting off the train we were greeted by the sight of about half a dozen policemen, three or four police vans, police dogs and, overhead, a helicopter was circulating.

It wasn’t all for us; nor was it is case of Them Beatlemania reaching Ayr.

The good weather brought a lot of people down to the seaside for the day, unfortunately not all them were content to sit and enjoy the sun. The day was marred by a number of violent clashes down by the beach, hence the heavy police presence at the station and throughout the town.

We were already grateful that, thanks to the generosity of Gordon and Louise, we were getting a lift back to Glasgow. That we would be spared the last train home made us just that little bit more thankful.

Ayr Town Hall is an impressive building. It was built in 1827 and with a 225 feet high steeple it dominates the Ayr skyline.

It’s as impressive inside as it outside. Capacity is given as 700 and there can’t have been too many short of that at this show. We were told that it was pay on the door simply because they ran out of tickets.

Ayr Town Hall before the gig. 

We had, however, to wait a good while for the main act to come on stage. Before Them Beatles came on we were treated, and I use that word advisedly, to a support band. Now I have no objection to a support band as a rule but usually their style of music is in keeping with the headline act. Not so with this band, whose name I quickly forgot. I don’t want to be unkind to those who do while I just watch so I’ll label them as ‘energetic’ and leave things at that.

That wasn’t all the pre-gig entertainment. We were also given a cabaret style singer who in addition to introducing the band crooned out a few numbers both before the show and during the interval. His flyers on display in the foyer claimed that he was adept at making balloon animals. That may well be the case but he struggled big time with the name of the band he was tasked with introducing. We had These Beatles, we had Those Beatles and just occasionally we had Them Beatles.

The gig itself was first class. There was a good mix of age groups and it was the younger element dancing away down at the front that helped create a real raucous atmosphere.

Just once it threatened to get out of hand. Early in the second set a fight broke out down near the front and something was thrown on stage. The lights came on and things calmed down; thanks in no small measure to a cheeky rendition from the stage of ‘Give Peace a Chance’. It was an awkward moment but it was handled brilliantly by the band.

The rest of the show continued without any further mishap with the band really feeding off the group of 50 or so dancers down at the front of the stage.

George, who even managed to ‘grow’ a beard during the interval, with the benefit of a further 24 hours recovery and plenty of painkillers was more heavily involved.

With a boisterous audience there was a real energy to the performance so. So much so that a request for ‘This Boy’ was met with the response that it wasn’t really the right kind of show for that song.

That led to what was, for me, the real highlight of the night. With the gig finished John, now just plain old Clark, came out and serenaded, there can be no other word for it, the group of women with their previously requested ‘This Boy’. It was a lovely way to end a different, but memorable night.

For more details, and tour dates, on Them Beatles check out their website http://www.thembeatles.com/

Tom Evans

Howden Park Centre, Livingston - Saturday May 18th 2013

Relying on public transport to carry us round the country the rail extension a few years ago that saw the line extended from Drumgelloch, through West Lothian, linking eventually to Edinburgh was perfect. West Lothian towns such as Bathgate and Livingston may not be high up on everyone’s list of must visit places but both have featured on the Them Beatles tour itinerary. Suddenly venues that would previously have been far too difficult for us to reach were within easy range. This trip to Livingston, for example, took just 50 minutes by train.

Alison with the train tickets

I’ve been to Livingston on many occasions on football business but this was the first time that I had really visited the place. The website for the Howden Park Theatre, the venue for the last concert at the end of a packed week for the band, provided the information that the venue was a 25 minute walk away from Livingston North Station. Secure in the knowledge that a simple 25 minute walk for us could easily end up in a missing persons bulletin we (my regular Passerpartout, Alison; was back with me after missing the previous Saturday’s gig in Giffnock), booked in advance a taxi to take us from the station to the venue. It proved to be a wise decision.

The Howden Park Theatre wasn’t located, as we had perhaps thought it would be, in the centre of the town but in Howden Park, a wooded area some distance from any other visible amenity. It’s a lovely setting even in the pouring rain. It’s a setting too with a bit of history to it which always interests me. An 18^th century coach house and stables stand next to the theatre which was first opened in 1972. In June 1940 a bomb fell on the coach house and tables and the two fatalities that followed were the first civilians to be killed on Scottish soil during the Second World War. Fascinating for me; irrelevant to everyone else.

The present theatre was re-opened in the spring of 2009 after an extensive refurbishment and it is easy to see why it was given that accolade ‘Building of the Year’ in 2010 by the Edinburgh Architectural Association.

Once you’ve passed through reception you find yourself in an attractive bar area with a small bistro further along.

And so we faced a dilemma. After a few hectic weekends we had vowed that this particular weekend would be alcohol free. There was still over an hour to the start of the show when we arrived and you can see from the photo below how true we stayed to our ‘no alcohol’ vow. Well it would have been wrong not to avail ourselves of the facilities.  

Them Beatles and Wine

A little after 7:30pm it was show time. The theatre itself (pictured below)was, in keeping with the rest of the building, first class. It wasn’t a complete sell out but the audience were clearly in the mood for a good time right from the opening number. One woman in particular, sitting almost directly in front of us, was clearly in the mood for a party and looking across the audience there was scarcely an individual who wasn’t singing along or indulging in ‘chair dancing’; something that I’m fairly adept at doing myself.

While the show itself was essentially the same as Rutherglen a few days earlier, at least in terms of the set list, there were a few tweaks here and there. Besides it’s one thing to re-create the music of The Beatles it’s another matter entirely to re-create the spirit of The Beatles and being able to do just that is, in this humble writer’s opinion, one of the main strengths of Them Beatles. There is a real chemistry on stage and there seemed, at least to me, to be a bit more banter between the band than there had been at Rutherglen; John in particular appearing to be an especially cheeky mood.

He was helped in that respect by one usher who was maybe just a little zealous in his desire to prevent any flash photography. As one photographic miscreant was lectured on his crime John declared that he was “sorry for breaking your theatre”.

I hope that you, dear reader, appreciate the efforts of your intrepid blogger who, in a desire to provide a photographic record of the evening, risked eviction from the theatre to capture, covertly, an image of John playing the keyboard with his elbow during ‘I’m Down’ as the first half drew to a close.

A covertly taken picture

With the audience buzzing the interval is usually a good time to have a chat with people. While I sipped on a nice glass of red, Alison got chatting to someone in the toilet who remembered seeing The Beatles in Glasgow and how she managed to get a cuddle from John Lennon. She was similarly taken though with the Them Beatles John. Alison reported that she had a real twinkle in her eye when she said that “that John is a smashing lad isn’t he?”

The second half of the show was, if anything, even better than the first. ‘A Day in the Life’ was, as always, a real personal highlight but rather than attempt to do justice the overall performance on the night a comment posted on the band’s Facebook page sums up the evening, and the band, perfectly;

“Went to the Howden Centre expecting to see just another humdrum mediocre tribute band, what a shock! Superb lads a fantastic show.”

There was a shock for one individual in the audience just before the final encore when they were called up onto the stage to receive a presentation from the band. It was an incredibly thoughtful gesture and one that the person in question is unlikely to forget.

And that’s it for this blog until next month when we take a trip down to the seaside and Ayr. Meantime you can catch Them Beatles in action at The Admiral Bar in Glasgow with the proceeds are going to Cancer Research, Maggie's Centre and Friends of The Beatson. Tickets can be purchased via the link below:

http://www.tickets-scotland.com/artists.html?event_method=viewevent&event_id=de9b8546-b19c-11e2-99e8-12313d04bc40

Tom Evans

First Half

Act One – Lunchtime @ The Cavern

I Saw Her Standing There

Some Other Guy

Ain’t She Sweet

Money

Love Me Do

Act Two – Ready Steady Go

Please Please Me

All My Loving

Do You Want to Know a Secret

I Want to Hold Your Hand

This Boy

Honey Don’t

Till There Was You

She Loves You

Act Three – Shea Stadium

Twist and Shout

She’s a Woman

Help!

A Hard Days Night

Ticket to Ride

If I Needed Someone

The Word

I’m Down

Bonus

Tomorrow Never Knows

Second Half

Act Four – Psychedelic

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

I Get by with a Little Help From My Friends

Flying

Strawberry Fields

Fixing a Hole

Hello, Goodbye

A Day in a Life

Act Five – Apple

Helter Skelter

Revolution

Something

Back in the USSR

Octopus Garden

Here Comes the Sun

Ballad of John and Yoko

Let it Be

Encore – Apple Rooftop

Don’t Let me Down

I’ve Got a Feeling

Get Back