Which one should I choose?

Thistleboy1980 wrote:

I've heard that the Bootleg Beatles are what it's all about....but I've never actually had a chance to catch one of their shows. Checked a bit out on YouTube: they're ok, but not great....unless that's just the sound quality on YT??

I've seen the Bootleg Beatles, they're pretty good. Some of the songs which were never done live by The Beatles translate kind of awkwardly to the live setting, and their Ringo's singing and accent is pretty appalling, but otherwise they're pretty spot on, especially when replicating the earlier ('66 and earlier) live performances, as they obviously have a lot more to go by. Their accents and style of humour when bantering between songs are all spot on, and their acting is genuine rather than forced and exaggerated. I've never seen the Fab Four (the tribute act), but they look pretty darn good as well, probably better in some respects.

My opinion on the whole Kiss tribute thing is that it's fairly pointless, when considering that (half of) the original band is still playing in a show which is, more or less, paying tribute to their early shows anyway, what with the makeup, costumes, fire breathing, blood spitting, guitar solo with rockets, so on. There's a few of their new songs thrown in for good measure, but they don't exactly dominate the setlist. What they do now is a replication of the sort of thing they did at their peak in 74-77. Might as well see Kiss doing Kiss than some group of no names doing Kiss.

I don't mind Kiss either really. I can understand the criticism for them, but I still enjoy their first four or five albums. Musically, while they weren't changing the world, they were pretty tight.

The Real Wizard wrote:

Unlikely.

Look up Tokyo 66 on youtube. The girls are screaming and they can't hear themselves - and they sing the harmonies of If I Needed Someone flawlessly.

You're right, shame George wasn't even trying. Considering the circumstances, they do quite well. Having to adjust the microphones every 20 seconds and all that.

Sweden in 1963 helps the case that they played exceptionally when they could actually hear what they were doing.

I went to the Beatles tribute last night, and it was a blast.

It was done by two different local groups collaborating. The first part of the show was made up of some original material from the two groups, first one and then the other. There was some very fun, well-written material there.

After a fairly lengthy intermission where the two bands put on their fancy costumes and got their shit together, they played Sgt. Peppers in its entirety. It was very well performed and every bit as good as I expected. Singing along to Lucy in the Sky was very much fun, Mr. Kite was a good show, and they whipped out a sitar for Within You Without You. Last but not least, I had very high expectations for A Day in the Life, and they succeeded them. With a small orchestra on the stage, I felt like I was going to a place far away and didn't even need drugs to do it.

After another intermission, Abbey Road started. Again, very well performed. I Want You (She's So Heavy) was played right up through midnight, and we counted down to the ball drop as the heavy psychedelic riffing continued endlessly. The finale was pulled off very well, again succeeding my expectations, and the drummer nailed the solo. After finishing off with Her Majesty, the band exited the stage, then came back on for the encore featuring beautifully performed renditions of All You Need is Love and Twist and Shout, just for shits.

Altogether, it was an eleven piece band performing all of this, and every one of them was used to recreate the studio versions as closely as possible (similar to the Queen Extravaganza, and the group that's been touring A Night at the Opera). They were all very talented instrumentalists and were able to use a variety of different instruments to recreate the music. They made a small orchestra for A Day in the Life and the Abbey Road finale, among others; there was a sitar for Within You Without You, as previously mentioned, a clarinet for When I'm 64, and even an alarm clock for A Day in the Life and an iphone app making cricket sounds for the end of You Never Give Me Your Money. Plus, all eleven of them sang lead vocals on at least one number.

I stood at the front of the theater with a small crowd of hipsters, everyone having a great time. Hope your New Year's was as enjoyable as mine.

"with a small crowd of hipsters"

By definition, there's no such thing as a large crowd of hipsters. Although they did try to buck that trend with the Occupy protests!

Glad you had a great time but for real historical acuracy they should have introduced a no-mark Japanese skank to break up the band :)

All the while maintaining "I basically didn't know who the Beatles were until I met John" and "I was already famous!".