LIVE: BEATLES BACK2BACK – Sgt Peppers & Abbey Road, Perth, 2 Sep, 2016

Shane | 16 September 2016 | Reply

LIVE: BEATLES BACK2BACK – Sgt Peppers & Abbey Road, Perth, 2 Sep, 2016
Starring Russell Morris, Jack Jones, Kav Temperley and Jon Allen
Crown Theatre, Perth – Friday, 2 September, 2016
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar

They’re two of the most lauded albums of all time, by the group hailed as the most influential of all time: Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road, and an ensemble cast of a dozen and a half musicians brought these 31 songs to life in a way that The Beatles themselves never could in their lifetime.

Along the way the show’s stars take their own opportunity to shine. Australian pop, rock and blues legend Russell Morris, whose The Real Thing was obviously influenced by The Beatles; Eskimo Joe frontman Kav Temperley; UK folk singer songwriter Jon Allen; and former Southern Sons frontman, Electric Mary rocker, John Farnham and Tina Arena sideman and solo artist Jack Jones (aka Irwin Thomas).

The true stars of the show, however, is the magnificent band recreating these songs. When recorded they blew minds at the sheer density of what a four track recording studio could achieve, but were impossible for the Fab Four to perform live. Now, no less than sixteen musicians make up the ensemble band, led by musical director and guitarist Rex Goh and band leader and keyboard player Paul Gray of Wa Wa Nee fame. Special mentions could be handed to all, but we’ll single out Lindsay Field for his incredible vocal arrangements, and Stephanie Zarka, Sam Evans and Nicolas Lyon, who in addition to handling more traditional western instruments such as percussion and violins between them also form the dilruba/table/sitar trio which not only opens the show, but embellishes many of the song with the Eastern elements so favoured of George Harrison during the period.

The end result is not a note-by-note recreation: it’s a re-telling of the stories of these two iconic albums by a host of extremely talented artists, and it’s a magical night of wondrous music that gives us the chance to discover the intricacies of these songs in a way that we’ve never been able to do before from the records alone.