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

Rutherglen Town Hall - Wednesday May 15th 2013

I’m tempted to rename this blog  ‘Here Comes the Sun’ as, shock horror, the lesser spotted yellow orb popped out from behind the clouds as myself and Alison made our way to the venue. Now I don’t want to come across as someone who moans about the weather constantly but really, could the sun not shine when we don’t know where we are going rather than when the venue is a mere hop, skip and a jump from the train station? The forecast for Livingston, our next stop on the Them Beatles magical mystery tour, on Saturday is typically for heavy rain.

Rutherglen Train Station

Rutherglen Town Hall is a venue that we should really visit more often. It was built in the mid 19^th century and after an extensive £12.5million refurbishment it reopened in 2005. The front of the building retains the original Baronial style façade but a glass extension has been added to the back of the building which provides a bright attractive area for a café and bar. Obviously not too bright, however, as after we sat down I was asked if I had ever seen the actual Beatles perform. Now I know that through my hair the odd fleck of grey can be seen but The Beatles last live performance was in August 1966. I was born in November 1968! How old did they think I was? Clearly a case of deceptive lighting. 

Arriving a little earlier than anticipated allowed us the chance to chat to a few people and await the arrival of The Milliner, my companion at Giffnock a few days earlier. This time he came mobbed handed. Joining our friend with the hat was his wife Trish, sister-in-law Rosemary and son Dylan. We’ll return to Dylan a little later.

But first the show itself.

The easiest way to describe a Them Beatles theatre show is that the music allows you travel back through time and experience the remarkable journey that The Beatles undertook. Helping us along the way were some fantastic visuals displayed on the screen behind the band. These images really enhanced the whole experience and it’s a pity that my vantage point relatively near the back doesn’t allow me to display any to any great effect here; perhaps from a future show. In the meantime enjoy, shamelessly pinched from the band’s,Facebook page, a Them Beatles take on the 'Let it Be' album cover. 

With the show running at over two hours and the two halves split between six separate acts, and yes; that means six costume changes, there is little doubt that it represents value for money.

The first half of the show took us from The Cavern at lunchtime to Shea Stadium in New York with a stop off in-between at the studios of ‘Ready Steady Go’, an ITV programme that The Beatles appeared on three times between October 1963 and November 1964.

There are some songs that you know will go down a storm with any audience. You can tell too when there are some real Beatles aficionados in attendance when some of the lesser known songs, if indeed such a thing exists in The Beatles back catalogue, are played. There was an audible “awwww” from the audience at Rutherglen when ‘This Boy, which was the B Side to ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’, was announced. The fantastic reaction at the end of the song proved that it had well and truly hit the spot.

It’s difficult to single out just a few highlights from the first half but special mention must be made to George who proved almost as adept at catching jelly beans in his mouth as he was at performing ‘if I Needed Someone’ and John, who true to the famous first Shea Stadium concert, played the keyboard with his elbow during a storming version of ‘I’m Down’.

The first half finished with the stage in near darkness and a brilliant, haunting, performance of ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’. I can only begin to guess at just how hard that particular song is to perform live.    

Doing justice live to some of the songs from the psychedelic period in The Beatles life I would have thought would have been near impossible but that’s exactly what Them Beatles managed to do at the start of the second half. In full Sgt. Pepper outfits we were treated to, among others, truly stunning performances of ‘Strawberry Fields’, Paul utilising a drumstick on his guitar strings, ‘Fixing a Hole’ and, alarm clock included, ‘A Day in the Life’. Just as an aside, in my humble opinion ‘A Day in the Life’ is a work of genius beyond compare.

Strawberry Fields

There was still plenty more to come and again it seems wrong somehow to single out just a few songs. ‘Back in the USSR’ finally got some people dancing in the aisles. ‘Here Comes the Sun’ was as beautiful as always and the message on the screen of “Happy Crimbo, Jock and Yono” raised a smile on my normally stoic visage while they performed ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’.

‘Let it Be’ brought the set to an end but the encores took us to the Apple rooftop and three more songs before, all too soon, the performance was at an end.

Apple Rooftop

There were some memorable moments still to come.

Remember Dylan from about 600 poorly constructed words ago?

At the interval he was spotted with straws in hand acting as makeshift drumsticks declaring that he was, in fact, Ringo Starr. Word got back to the band and Ringo’s performance of ‘Octopus Garden’ was dedicated to Dylan much to his obvious delight. 

The Two Ringos

There was better to come. After the show Dylan got to meet the band and have his photograph taken with them as a group, with the ‘other’ Ringo and behind the drum kit. Am I jealous? You bet.

Dylan on Drums

Dylan went home too clutching some real drumsticks and copies of the set list; both courtesy of Ringo. And so the seed for yet more generations of Beatles fans was sown.

There is a real sense of family and community with Them Beatles. It can’t after all just be the music that keeps us going.

This was, cough, the 22^nd time (go on admit it; you just knew I was the kind of person to keep a list) that I’ve seen Them Beatles and I can’t in all honestly remember them performing better; second half especially. Which made the remark from one individual that the band were miming all the more surreal. It’s easy enough for us to simply laugh off such a ludicrous suggestion but it is, back handed compliment that it may be, a slap in the face for the band and the hard work they put in. Not to mention that it impinges upon their professional integrity. I’m going to sign off then with just a few observations. Them Beatles have embarked, in addition to travelling round the UK, on tours of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. They were prominent performers at last year’s International Beatle Week and will be returning there this coming August. They are one of the most sought after Beatles tribute acts anywhere. As one individual posted on their Facebook page; “Miming? My Arse!”

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

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

Giffnock North Social Club - Saturday May 11th 2013

There is a certain irony that the one song that I haven’t heard Them Beatles perform, or at least I can’t recall them performing, is ‘Rain’ as that less than rare meteorological phenomena almost invariably accompanies a trip to a Them Beatles gig. We’ve been soaked to the skin is such diverse locations as Bathgate, Hamilton (so much so that the merchandise stall had to be located to find some dry clothes), Bellshill and, of course, Glasgow.

It was damp too when we arrived at the Giffnock North Social Club on May 11^th. When I say ‘we’ there was on this occasion a change to my companion for the evening. My normal ‘Passerpartout’, Alison, was otherwise engaged and I had thought that I would be flying solo for this one. However I was joined by The Milliner, himself no stranger to a Them Beatles gig, for the evening. His reward for being designated driver for the evening was not just the pleasure of my company for the evening but a raffle prize of a dustpan and brush.

Cleaning up with a raffle prize

Although I grew up quite close to Giffnock this was my first visit to the Giffnock North Social Club. We found the venue in double quick time. So early in fact that the band were still sound checking when we arrived. The main hall was obviously out of bounds at that time and a notice on the bar door declared that only members and their guests could use the facility.

Were we to be denied a pre-gig refreshment?

We needn’t have worried; we were quickly ushered into the bar and is almost always the norm in these places the welcome couldn’t have been friendlier or warmer. In next to no time the collection of badges on The Milliner’s bag had been commented on and in general a pleasant hour or so was spent waiting for the doors to open.

When the doors opened I got the chance to meet Jim who I had spoken to on the phone to arrange the tickets. I asked if they had booked Them Beatles before.

“This is the fourth time”; came the reply followed by; “and they played at my daughter’s wedding”. Them Beatles are clearly popular round Giffnock way.

And that was reflected in the attendance in the hall. There weren’t many spare seats and we found ourselves over on ‘Paul’s side’ with an excellent view across the stage.

A bad picture looking across the stage

As we waited for the band to come on the DJ kept everyone entertained with some appropriate music before Them Beatles hit the stage at 9:15pm. 

The set opened with a blinding performance of ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ which set the tone for the remainder of the set. The guys perform these songs up to several times a week but there’s always a freshness and energy to their sets.

There’s an ample dance floor at Giffnock North but it took until the 7^th number, ‘From me to You’, and some gentle urging from the stage for the first dancers to hit the floor. The dance floor wasn’t always packed but there were usually at least a few people on the floor from then until the end of the night.

Just some of the highlights from the first set included ‘This Boy’ with the three part harmony performed at just the one microphone, which I first saw at Bathgate last year ( video from Bathgate below) and an excellent performance of ‘Honey Don’t’ from Ringo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4YLg12MJko

The distinctive first chord of ‘A Hard Days Night’ was struck; to these untrained ears, to perfection. ‘Help!’ meantime was supposed to signify the end of the opening set but were given a bonus in the form of an energetic rendition of ‘Rock and Roll Music’.

The second set opened with as good a version of ‘Helter Skelter’ as I’ve ever heard. George at one point even playing his guitar with a drumstick.

George as ever gave a faultless performance of ‘Something’ which prompted one member of the audience to get right to the side of the stage to capture the moment on video.

John took to the keyboards for a storming version of ‘Back in the USSR’ before Ringo again took centre stage with ‘Octopus Garden’.

We, well not us personally, had a slosh on the dance floor for ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-DA’ and a mini slosh for ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’.

The conclusion of the night took us to the Apple rooftop and fantastic performances of ‘Don’t Let me Down’, ‘I Got a Feeling’ and ‘Get Back’. The latter of that trio, the show’s finale, was played to the backdrop of a packed dance floor.

Well, it wasn’t quite the show’s finale. The band came back on stage to perform the almost traditional ‘Hey Jude’ encore.

This was a cracking night at a smashing venue in front of an appreciative audience. Should Them Beatles return to Giffnock North, which given this was their fourth visit wouldn’t seem unlikely, then I wouldn’t have any hesitation in making a return visit myself.

Tom Evans

First Set

I Saw Her Standing There

Some Other Guy

Ain’t She Sweet

Money

Love Me Do

Please Please Me

From Me to You

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

A Hard Days Night

The Night Before

Help!
Rock and Roll Music

Second Set

Helter Skelter

Revolution

Something

Back in the USSR

Octopus Garden

Here Comes the Sun

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

The Ballad of John and Yoko

Let it Be

Lady Madonna

Birthday

Don’t Let Me Down

Get Back

Encore

Hey Jude

Introduction

There was no Road to Damascus like revelation but Paul McCartney’s concert at Hampden just a shade under three years ago was a life affirming experience all the same.

I had always been a Beatles fan, albeit a passive one, but McCartney’s concert simply blew me away. Listening to a legend like Paul McCartney perform some of the songs that helped create that epitaph opened a door to a whole new passion/obsession – delete as you deem appropriate. I simply had to explore the music and the legend, that word again, of The Beatles more.

That journey almost inevitably led me to experience one of the plethora of Beatles tribute bands that exist. That tribute band was The Bootleg Beatles.

After The Bootleg Beatles came, in July 2011, Them Beatles; which takes me to the purpose of this blog.

My obsession/passion (still delete as you deem appropriate) for all things Beatle related hasn’t been a complete solo project. My girlfriend has also purchased a ticket to ride (cue groan) and we derive a great deal of pleasure from taking in Them Beatles concerts in a variety of weird and wonderful venues across the country.

The music is obviously the driving motivation behind doing that but not the sole reason for jumping on a train and heading to places like Bathgate and Dundee.

From the very first time that we went to see them, when we got talking to a couple of ladies who had experienced Beatlemania first hand, we’ve met a lot of interesting people. Almost without fail every venue we’ve phoned to enquire about tickets has been friendly and helpful.  We’ve had an absolute blast along the way.

Which is the whole point of this blog. It’s mainly written for my own relaxation and pleasure but I hope that anyone who stumbles across it gets a flavour of the colour of a Them Beatles gig. The blog, I hope, will be as much about the venues and the people as it will be the music.

The blog is written under a nom de plum but you don’t need to be Miss Marple to figure out who I am. If you see me and my better half at a Them Beatles gig then please say hello.

Just as a final note my reviews will refer to Them Beatles by their stage names. I must stress I do know that they aren’t the real Fab Four. Meantime Clark, Craig, Grahame and Joe; thanks for the fun times you’ve given us.    

Tom Evans