62
Before the Moptops, before the suits, before the screams, before the British
invasion… it was pure rock and roll! ’62 are a band that captures the look,
sound, and energy of the Hamburg/Cavern era, and is one of only a few of the
Beatle tribute bands in the entire world to focus only on this early period.
This year has been a busy one with the group gaining two new members and being
selected as the ambassador band for the Finger Lakes Wine Country’s
"Riesling revolution" ad campaign. They toured several state wineries,
and were featured prominently on television and radio. Dave Pal (John),
John Doud (Paul), Scott Benjamin (George), and Dan Naylor (Ringo)
1964
In his book the Complete
Chronicle, Mark Lewisohn wrote, "If 1963 had been the year in which The
Beatles conquered Britain, then in 1964 they had conquered the world." The
Beatles were the first part of what affectionately, Americans call the British
invasion. To commemorate the 40th Anniversary of that tumultuous occasion Cavern
City Tours have instigated a reverse US invasion of Britain, by 10 of Uncle Sam’s
greatest Beatle acts. What better way than to start the introductions with a
band named after that amazing year, 1964 . . . The Tribute, who make their fifth
Beatle Week appearance in a year which has also seen them perform forty years to
the day at two of the four Beatles 1964 tour venues in the US still in
existence. This Thursday, as we kick off the festival, the band are appearing at
the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver, Colorado, and back on February 12th they
recreated the Carnegie Hall show at the famous New York venue. 1964 . . . The
Tribute are celebrating their own 20th Anniversary this year; formed in 1984,
the band comprises of Mark Benson (John), Jimmy Pou (George), Gary Grimes (Paul)
and Greg George (Ringo) and the last twenty years has seen them grow to become
one of the greatest tribute bands in the world. Specialising in the pre-Revolver
years, 1964’s stage show is just about as close as you can get to the
original look, sound and feel of those frenzied sell-out Beatle shows. They are
so much in demand that their touring schedule is just as hectic as the fabs
themselves had back in 64 and they play to packed audiences all over the
US. They are truly amazing so it’s no wonder that 1964… The Tribute have a
huge following in the States, and they’ve won thehearts of many here in
Liverpool too!
www.1964thetribute.com
ACOÚSTIKA
Acústika are four young Brazilian
women, previously members of a group called The Pancake Band that had
performed to large crowds in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, who in 2015 decided
to give a twist to some of the greatest classic rock songs of the twentieth
century. Despite their unusual interpretations of songs by artists from The
Beatles to Coldplay, using classical instruments like the violin, flute, piano
alongside electric guitars, bass and drums; even translating the lyrics into
Spanish, Italian, French & Chinese, Acústika have a warm reception
everywhere they perform. Their exquisite vocals harmonies, exciting
musical arrangements and lively stage performances are captivating. We have
no doubt that this group will be the buzz of Beatle Week talk! Meet Tayana
Dantas, Jane Soren, Luciana Guessa and Claudia Moreno – Acústika!
www.acustika.com.br
BBCEATLES
Can you guess which Beatles album
this band is inspired by…? Yes, the BBCtles aren’t obsessed about Eastenders,
they’re fans of the Beatles at the BBC album! The BBCtles, who were founded in
1998 and play mostly in the clubs around Vienna, feature Arthur Fandl on vocals
& bass, a music teacher who has composed two musicals and along with
vocalist & guitarist Peter Pleyl played at Liverpool Beatle Week way back in
1995 & 1996. Peter owns his own music studio and has produced and recorded a
lot of albums and music for television (not the BBC?!). Hans Mayrhofer (vocals
& guitar) is also a music teacher and plays in various other groups all over
Austria including Sinus & Co., and last but no means least, drummer Ali
Rammel who took part in a musical called "Into the Woods" and spends
his time away from the BBCtles playing with other bands in Vienna. There were
275 Beatles recordings for the BBC, 36 of which were the groups only studio
performance of those songs. Shows broadcast between 1962- 1965 included Brian
Matthew’s ‘Saturday Club’, ‘Parade of the Pops’ and The Beatles own
shows ‘From Us To You’ and ‘Pop Go The Beatles’. The BBCtles perform
many of the songs recorded for these shows so you can guarantee that whether you’re
whistling along to ‘Clarabella’, or jiggling to ‘I Got A Woman’, you’ll
be doing the ‘Hippy Hippy Shake’ at he BBCtles shows!
BEATELS
We’re very excited to welcome a new band to
Beatle Week from Australia, The Beatels. This is an historic year for fans of
The Beatles in Australia and it has also been a big year for The Beatels. In
1964, The Beatles toured Australia, beginning in Centennial Hall, Adelaide on
June 12th. Ringo had been taken ill the previous week and was replaced by Jimmy
Nicol on this date (and the preceding ones in Denmark, The Netherlands and Hong
Kong). Ringo rejoined the group in Melbourne for the remainder of the tour in
Sydney, New Zealand and Brisbane. On 12 June 2016, forty years on, the
Sydney-based act The Beatels travelled to Adelaide for its inaugural Australian
Beatles Festival, where they played on the same stage as the Fabs at Centennial
Hall. The Beatels also performed their own 40th Anniversary tour (which included
a once-only screening of the Fabs in Melbourne in 1964 on the big-screen)
playing sell-out shows at the Orpheum Theatre in Sydney, His Majesty’s Theatre
in Perth, The Tivoli Theatre in Brisbane and Her Majesty’s Theatre in
Melbourne, in a line-up that included Pete Best, Richard Lush and the man who
ran on-stage 40 years ago in Melbourne to shake John’s hand. And that was just
after they’d performed with Olivia Newton John! Many Scousers who have
frequented Bondi Beach in Australia would remember these lads as the ones from
the Cock and Bull in years past. Those with a longer memory would also remember
John & Paul from The Beatels in the Beatle-version of ‘A Stairway To
Heaven’ that raised a chuckle in the early 1990’s. Bruce Coble (John), Steve
Shipley (Paul), Marcus Phelan (George) and Neil Rankin (Ringo) are celebrating
their eighth year as The Beatels (although most had already been doing this for
many years previously with another Beatles show, The Beatnix) and are they are
admired for their attention to detail and their ability to do justice to a broad
range of the music of The Beatles. They perform regularly in theatres, clubs
& at all kinds of special events: They played at the launch of the new
Volkswagen Beetle in Sydney in 2000 and the new Mazda in Queensland in 2002;
they were selected by EMI in Australia to launch the re-mastered ‘Yellow
Submarine’; they regularly perform at major events throughout Asia, such as
last years Cold Storage festival in Singapore (which was attended by 80,000
people over 2 days, sharing the stage with Hong Kong pop-stars!), and
earlier this year they featured in the NTV nightly news in Malaysia.
www.beatels.com
BEAT
BROTHERS
The Beatbrothers are Phil
Gillespie, 15, on lead guitar and lead vocals, Eddy Gillespie, 13, on drums and
Shaun Gillespie (their Dad, struggling to keep them in check!) on bass. The band’s
first big break was playing at the Beatles Convention in 2001, and they haven’t
looked back since. Eddy is the youngest drummer ever to have played at The
Cavern Club; he was just 10 years old in 2001! Their highlight so far in 2016,
was a 30-minute spot on Spencer Leigh’s Saturday night BBC Radio Merseyside
programme "On The Beat", where two of the lads original songs were played, as
well as a live studio performance of severa songs by George
Harrison, The Who, and The Beatles. Look closely at Dad Shaun’s bass guitar;
the Fender Precision he plays was once owned by John Entwhistle of The Who, and
was bought from the much missed bass guitarists estate in 2015. It only comes
out for special occasions, and there’s no better one that CCT’s Beatle
Weekend! The Beatbrothers play 60’s music, mainly Beatles, but also their own
energetic versions of classic songs by The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks
and Spencer Davies Group. If you enjoy music played with passion and loads of
energy then this is the band for you!
BEAT
GENERATION
BEATALLS
The Beatalls are thrilled to be
returning to Beatle Week for the fifth time. The last year has seen Andy (John),
Ian (Paul), Mel (George) and Steve (Ringo) busy with lots of functions around
the UK, but as well as that there have been many stand out occasions. Firstly,
they were invited to perform at Beatle Conventions in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
at their hometown’s Nottingham Beatles Day and at the first Liverpool Easter
Eggman Convention; all of which were excellent and enjoyable events. They
performed at a huge event in Paris to a large, multinational audience and
undertook two great Christmas gigs at Liverpool’s one and only Cavern Club;
all very good fun! There’s been the release of The Beatalls first CD; a 2016
remake of ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ as well as a CD by Ian called ‘Some Macca
Songs’ which as well as including many McCartney solo songs also features the
bands good friend Johnny Silver. Both CD’s will be available throughout the
festival from the band. The Beatalls also recorded a promo video for an up and
coming BBC director. The Beatalls have continued to build upon the largest and
most accurate Beatle Instrument collection in the UK with recent additions
including a Gretsch DuoJet, a left handed Hofner ‘Cavern’ Bass, a rare
Epiphone Texan McCartney acoustic and a perfectly Lennonised’ 325 Rickenbacker.
At last years Liverpool Beatle Week they performed a memorable set of ‘Beatles
at the BBC’ songs and at the Eggman Convention The Beatalls gave us the entire
‘Please Please Me’ album. For this year’s event they are taking on ‘With
The Beatles’ as the album of choice along with more sets of BBC and Please
Please Me songs, both will be performed in the usual Beatalls ‘full-on upbeat
energy style’! So, whether its your first time with The Beatalls or not,
be sure to go along and say "Hi", and as Ian says; "shake yer
bums, wiggle yer hips", and have a good dance in the true spirit of Beatle
Week!
www.thebeatalls.com
BEATBOYS
It’s always nice to say ‘you’re
welcome’ to a new band. As Shalil Shankar said from the Chavasse Park stage
last year, Liverpool really is the equivalent of Mecca for musicians. For many
Beatles tribute bands, it must seem like they have been waiting for the day
until they come to Liverpool for what seems like forever. Well, for one lucky group of
competition winners from Mexico (that’s just to the south of
California, girls), this is the year their dreams come true. TheBeatboys won the
Battle of the Bands at the 9th annual Beatles Festival organised by Ricardo
Calderon. The Beatboys were founded by Christian Miranda, 25 years old (bass),
Eber Lopez, 26 years old (keyboards and vocals) and Jonathan Miranda, 28 years
old (drums). Staging their first performance on December 8th, 1998, In Pebruary
2001 Mauricio Rosas, 20 years old, joined the group, as percussionist, later
providing backing vocals on some songs, and then playing the guitar. In 2002 the
group is completed with the arrival of Daniel Rosas, on lead guitar. Daniel at
the tender age of 17 amazed everyone with his mastery and command of his
instrument.
http://beatboys.tripod.com.mx
BEATLEMANIACS
Since last years festival, The
Beatlemaniacs have achieved a great deal in terms of boosting the band’s
profile. The UK’s youngest Beatles Tribute Band, with all members being the
age the real Beatles were in the 1960’s, they are the ultimate interms of
capturing the energy of a live Beatles show. The group have a sense of humour
and energy which comes across in their electric performances. Formed only
2 1/2 years ago this will be their third appearance at Beatle Week, and in such
a short time they have become a crowd favourite. They are looking forward to
performing another selection of great shows, to once more rave reviews. The
Beatlemaniacs are also looking forward to a weekend of running through the
streets of Liverpool, escaping the clawing hands of young girls on their suits
as they go!! They performed at the Cavern during our Easter Eggman Weekend and
enjoyed a two-night stint there again in June; performed live on BBC Television’s
prime time kids show Blue Peter, and have recently performed a string of UK
theatre performances. All four members are based in the North- East of England;
Rich Jordan who plays John in the band also performs as a solo ‘John’
tribute artist. His brother, James, keeps the beat at the back as Ringo, while
Chris Johnson performs as bass guitarist Paul, and lead guitarist Greg Alderson
completes the four as George. Cavern shows are always extra special to The
Beatlemaniacs, so the crowds will be in for a treat; there may even be some
surprises thrown in!! They will be playing in and around the Mathew Street area
all weekend, so catch them if you can!
www.beatlemaniacsonline.com
BEATVOX
The
Beatvox are looking forward to playing at this year’s convention
in Liverpool for the first time since their dream came true in November 2002
when they played at The Cavern Club. The overwhelming reception at The Cavern
Club has made the quartet eager to play at the famous week dedicated to their
idols, The Beatles. The Beatvox formed in October 2000, consisting of Naoki
Sakamoto (John), Ryoichi Takeda (Paul), Kazuhiro Itoh (George) & Akira Ozawa
(Ringo); all of whom had previously been in various other bands. The group enjoy
playing a variety of Beatles music, especially the early rock and roll songs.
Most of The Beatvox’s performances take place in Tokyo and Yokohama where they
have many loyal followers. They have played at the Beatles Official Fan Club
events in Japan, and at charity concerts. The Beatvox also perform in other
major cities including Osaka and Nagoya. Some of these memorable performances
include, sharing the same stage with Pete Best’s Band in Japan 1995 and when
playing ‘Dig a Pony’ in front of George Martin in 1996. But of course the
most memorable event of all is playing here in Liverpool at The Cavern Club in
2002.
www.beatvox.com
BOB
BARTEY & BANNED ON THE
RUN
Banned On The Run are the
Brigadoon of Beatle Week… they only exist for the duration of the festival and
then they disappear into the mists of Halifax and Hertfordshire, never to be
seen for 51 weeks! Bob Bartey and his comrades Marcus Lazarus, Sean Fitzpatrick
and his brother Kevin Fitzpatrick gave-up the ‘Silly Love Songs’ when Marcus
moved down south a couple of years ago. However, they do reform just to play at
Beatle Week every year, which we are very grateful for because they’re our
very favourite Macca band! Last year they were joined onstage by former
Wings/McCartney band members Henry McCullough, Steve Holley, Denny Seiwell,
Chris Hall & Howie Casey at the Royal Court. It was a fantastic concert with
just one of the many memorable moments being Henry McCullough playing that oh-so
famous guitar solo during ‘My Love’. One of McCartney’s other love songs
was the Bridal March for our Beatle Week wedding in 2015. Gill walked down the
aisle to Calico Skies on her 25th August wedding to Paul Shedden. Our happy
couple will be celebrating their 1st anniversary this week so be sure to wish
them many happies when you see them! On the subject of nuptials, guitarist
extraordinaire Marcus married the lovely Lucie this summer. Many congratulations
from us to Mr and Mrs Lazarus! So BOTR are back again, sans famous friends and
doing their own great show; you’ll be able to ‘Listen To What The Man Said’
and Banned on the Run may even play your ‘Baby’s Request’ at their ‘Rock
Show’!
BRAZILIAN
BLACKBIRD
Paul McCartney played his 3000th
gig this year in St Petersburg, as part of another highly successful tour, but
back in 1990 the Brazilian fans really showed their appreciation for Macca
setting a new world record for the largest stadium audience when 184,000 people
filled the Maracana Stadium in Rio De Janeiro. The Black Bird Band are from Rio,
where, since their formation in 1997 they have been voted Best Beatles cover
band in Brazil by Radio Emperor FM, at the Liverpool Night’s contest in São
Paolo and by the British community at the Queen’s birthday celebrations
in 2000. Alan Marques, Thiago Henrique and Kico Ferreira are the groups
lead singers and guitarists, Ivan Barros plays the bass, Flávio Armony plays
the keyboard and Xande Maio plays the drums and also sings. Black Bird
Band’s repertoire consists of both Beatles and solo compositions including It
Don’t Come Easy, My Love, Imagine and My Sweet Lord. Black Bird Band has
played over 600 shows and has a hugely popular fan club with over 5500 members.
They are now preparing to record their first album to be entitled "Beatles
Brazil Black Bird Number One".
www.blackbirdband.com
BRITISH EXPORT
Not yet quite celebrating their
10th Anniversary of Beatle Week appearances, but check back in 6 years time as
this Illinois band are becoming a bit of a fixture here. At least, some of the
members are… Davey Justice, the founding member of British Import (as they
were originally known) has rejoined in the role of Paul. Davey has just
completed a 5-month stint in Las Vegas as the Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino
with the Legends of Yesterday Show. Of course, with Davey playing Paul, you may
be wondering what’s happened to Paul Lynch... well he’s swapping names and
roles, reverting to his given first name James (he really is James Paul!) and he’s
trading his Hofner bass for a Rickenbacker guitar and taking on the role of
John! He’s been told for many years that he’d make a great ‘Lennon’ and
now he’s finally succumbed to the pressure to move from stage right to stage
left! Completing the line-up are fellow founding member Jim ‘Ringo’ Martin,
with the most famous face furniture in Beatledom, and Gavin Pring – who can,
of course, also be seen at Beatle Week with George Harry’s Son. The Chicago
four played at Ohio’s Abbey Road on the River a couple of weeks ago, and now
are back in Liverpool for to unveil their new line-up. Welcome to James, Davey,
Gav and Jim - the all-new British Export!
www.britishexport.com
CLUBE
BIG
BEATLES
If you haven’t experienced this
remarkable band before, your week won’t be complete unless you’ve seen them
at least once. Their outstanding sets run the gamut from the Hamburg days to the
solo years and are always of the highest quality. No show is ever the same and
in true 60’s spirit the performance often turns into a ‘Happening’ full of
visual and aural surprises! This year we’re promised more surprises (What? Edu’s
learnt English at last?). We’ve had one already. Lead singer and guitarist
Saulo Simonassi has left to concentrate on his solo career and is replaced by
Leo Vaccari; bass player Otavio Ribeiro is replaced by original member Leo
Teixeira. The other guys in the band - drums Babi Vaccari; keys/guitar Mark
Fernandez; and founder member Edu Henning (percussion) who, when not presenting
the long-running Clube Big Beatles radio show, is news/sports anchorman on
Brazil’s biggest TV network. Clube Big Beatles are from Vitória, near Rio de
Janeiro. Just a group of friends who got together to play Beatles’ songs. When
they were offered their first gig they locked themselves away for 3 months
producing a well honed set – and this attention to detail is still evident 15
years later. Throughout the years Clube Big Beatles’ popularity in their
hometown and around Brazil has been built not only on their music, but also
their charity work using the messages in John, George, Paul and Ringo’s songs.
They attract big names from the Brazilian music scene to play Beatles classics
at the same time helping the less fortunate, drawing crowds of up to 40,000
people. Entrance to these fund raising shows is with the donation of goods. In
1992, celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Love Me Do, admission to the show was
a book, resulting in 5,000 books being collected for the city’s public
library. Then there were the charity premiere of the film Backbeat and the John
Lennon Tribute shows where admission was a minimum of 2 lbs of food. Over 9 tons
of food was distributed to the city’s poor. Liverpool highlights from Clube
Big Beatles include; opening the Yellow Submarine Mathew Street Festival
celebrations in 1999; filling the Adelphi stage with audience members for a
David Frost Show authentic rendition of ‘Hey Jude’; distributing
little bags of Brazilian sand to be scattered around the world in memory of 20th
anniversary of John’s death; the appearance of the Liverpool Samba School;
guest videos from Pelé, the king of football and long-time George Harrison pal
racing driver Emerson Fittipaldi; and who could forget those giant hands of Edu’s?
Yep! Those who have been lucky enough to see a Clube Big Beatles’ performance
in Liverpool know that they have been a part of something
special.
www.clubebigbeatles.com.br
DET
BETALES
Det Betales like Clube Big Beatles
and Liverpool are celebrating their tenth year at the Festival. With the huge
demand to play Beatle Week, this is a testimony to the profssionalism and
ability of all three bands. Furthermoreit says a lot about them as people, as
one of our major aims is to give Beatle fans the best music played by the best
people. As Bill Shankly, legendary manager of Liverpool FC said to an opposing
chairman: "Yes, obviously we know what your player is like, we’ve watched
him ten times. We wouldn’t be putting in a bid to buy him if we didn’t
rate him as a player! But what’s he like as a person? That is just as
important!" Headlines acts come and go at Beatle Week but the real
glue that holds the show together (apart from us fans of course), are guys like
Rolf Øyvind Hæg (drums), Magne Frydenlund (bass), Dag Svartskuren (lead
guitar) and Tor Olsen (rhythm guitar) who make up Det Betales and have been
entertaining the Beatle Week crowd forever, it seems. The world wouldn’t
be quite right if they weren’t in Liddypool with us every August would
it? There’s a certain quirkiness to their performances which makes
their shows fun –any band that comes up with stage names like Bingo
Stærk, Paul McEplecarth, George Harryseth and John Ramon is
unlikely to be run-of-the-mill – and if they’ve bought it with them,
we recommend that you get hold of a copy of their promo CD ‘Norwegian’s
Would’ (ho ho ho!), which as well as displaying their Beatles
repertoire includes a touching tribute to John called, of course, ‘Dear
John’.
www.betales.com
FAB
FAUX
Did you see it? Were you there? The show everyone was talking about last August
was the Fab Faux' Monday night Royal Court Theatre performance of the White
Album. In its entirety. Yes, even Revolution #9. It was more of a happening than
a concert, and it left a theatre-full of Beatle Weekers gobsmacked! This
year the guys are back, and as usual they've got some exhilarating sets planned
for us. The last year has seen the Fab Faux add a further 21 Beatles songs to
their ever-increasing repertoire; they can now perform 159 of the 211 officially
released songs. They have continued to perform sell-out shows in New York and
the surrounding area; as well playing for the National Basketball Association
All-Star Weekend in Hollywood, California. Their day jobs keep them pretty busy:
Jimmy Vivino plays guitar for the Max Weinberg 7 on Late Night with Conan
O'Brien, Will Lee is bassist in the Late Show with the David Letterman Band,
Rich Pagano runs a busy recording studio and has toured recently with Rosanne
Cash, Jack Petruzzelli has been on tour with this year with Rufus Wainwright,
and Frank Agnello works for the major music performance rights society
ASCAP. Jimmy and Rich have recently started a side-project; the late 60's/early
70's power trio Steaks and Chops. Rich recently spent time playing with one of
his idols, Bob Dylan, including a rehearsal vocal session singing 'I Shall Be
Released'. To top it all off, Will has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award
by Bass Player Magazine - a true honour which he will receive this coming
October. Of course, the Fab Faux' link to the Beatles' 40th Anniversary U.S. TV
debut can't be overlooked either - the Letterman show is recorded in the Ed
Sullivan Theater where that historic appearance originally took place, so the
famous venue is Will's place of work. Will was honoured to be allowed to sing
"Hey Jude" on the Letterman Show on February 9th this year - he was in
fact, the only non-Beatle to perform that evening as CBS also showed a clip of
the Beatles performing in the same studio 40 years earlier. The Fab Faux return
to Beatle Week with three thrilling shows; Monday at the Royal Court and two
shows at the Cavern on Tuesday. They will be contrasting our '64 theme with an
all-out psychadelic show at the Royal Court . . . and knowing the Faux as we do,
it will be yet another happening! Turn on, tune in, Faux out!
www.thefabfaux.com
FAB
5
In July 1964 The Beatles returned
to their hometown for the northern premiere of A Hard Day’s Night. Had they
held a US premiere of the film they may have chosen to hold it in The Fab Five’s
hometown; Liverpool New York State! Looking forward to almost a week of Hard
Days and Nights, The Fab Five are thrilled to be chosen to represent our
sister city this year. The band was formed on February 9th 2001, which was of
course the 37th anniversary of the Beatles US TV debut. Gary Frenay (rhythm
guitar/bass) and Arty Lenin (lead guitar) have been friends for over 30 years,
playing in various bands including The Flashcubes and working with the likes of
U2, The Police and The Ramones. In fact in the 70’s they were friends with a
local drummer called Joe English. Joe later joined Wings – apparently Macca
thought he had a hip last name! Guitarist Dave Novak was a teenager when he
attended the historic Shea Stadium concert and caught the Beatle bug. Dave’s
been playing ever since, and with Paul Davie (bass/piano) and Dave Miller
(drums) completing the line-up, The Fab Five have recently played with Joey
Molland of Badfinger and Terry Sylvester of The Hollies & The Swinging Blue
Jeans.We welcome The Fab Five from Liverpool NYto Liverpool, England!
www.thefab-five.com
FAB
FOUR
Every year Charles F. Rosenay!!!
brings a large group of Beatlefans across to Liverpool from America, accompanied
by a band which hasn’t played at Beatleweek before. This week the lucky
Magical History Tour crew have spent time in Hamburg & London prior to
arriving in Liverpool and they’ve been entertained every step of the way by
The Fab Four. The Fab Four have performed to audiences all over the world
including Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Mexico and Brazil and have spent much of
this year playing regular engagements at the Hilton Las Vegas. The band’s
founding members are Ardy Sarraf, who is one of the most critically acclaimed
Paul McCartney impersonators in the world, and Ron McNeil, who, as a youngster,
was first inspired to follow in the footsteps of his hero John Lennon after
seeing the Broadway show Beatlemania in 1979. Ardy and Ron joined forces in 1998
and were soon joined by talented lead guitarist Michael Amador as George
Harrison and Beatles tribute band veteran Rolo Sandoval as Ringo Starr. They
played to 60,000 fans at a football stadium in Buenos Aires and have been
honoured to play twice at the famed Hollywood Bowl, where the Beatles first
played 40 years ago this month. In fact, The Fab Four recreated both that 1964
and the 1965 Beatles concert on the very same stage in May 2001, having
previously appeared on the same bill as Sir George Martin at the venue in
1999. They’re thrilled to be playing in the birthplace of the Beatles, and we’re
certain that you’ll be just as thrilled when you see them play!!
www.thefabfour.net
GEORGE
HARRYS
SON
Last year at Beatle Week Gav
notched up a massive total of fourteen gigs in three different guises and won
audiences over with his natural wit and charm (Well he is from Liverpool so what
did you expect?). Gav celebrated George Harrison’s solo career by recreating
‘The Rock Legends Tour’ of 1991 in Chavasse Park on the Saturday with his
own band ‘George Harry’s Son’. They performed a memorable set, one of the
highlights being their blistering rendition of ‘Isn’t It A Pity’. They
reprised the set in front of a capacity crowd in the Cavern on Monday. ‘George
Harry’s Son’ make a welcome return to Beatle Week albeit with a slightly
different line-up. Gav is again joined by Richard Smith, with his unique style
and superb slide guitar playing; Richie ‘the Sticks’, as he is known, still
providing the steady beat, and Kate Cave providing backing vocals alongside new
addition to the band; Paula McCool. On keyboards this year is John, and on bass
a new, but familiar face in the line-up is Gav’s fellow British Export member
Paul Lynch. In 2015, hot on the heels of his success in the park Gav provided
the George content at Saturday evenings ‘Unplugged’. Forget ‘Hell’s
Kitchen’, The American Bar was the hottest place in town that night. Gav
notched up two notable firsts during the gig; he gave us the first ever Beatle
Week performance of George Harrison’s ‘Pirate Song’, and he became the
first Beatle Week artist to cover a track from George’s latest album ‘Brainwashed’
with ‘Devil and The Deep Blue Sea’. Since last year’s Beatle Week Gav has
been busy working with British Export, not only fitting in another tour of South
Korea but also appearing on several American television programmes when
the 40th Anniversary of the Beatles first US visit was celebrated earlier
this year. He has enjoyed another busy summer, culminating in Abbey Road on the
River in Cleveland where he performed with Tim Piper in the Fantasy Reunion
concert. You’d think that was enough for most people but Gav is a talented
musician in his own right playing a range of instruments and writing his
own songs. Recently he has been busy recording his original material and
his debut CD will be available soon.
www.our-gav.com
Dios
Salve A La Reina
Dios Salve A La Reina or God Save
the Queen is Argentina’s most popular Queen tribute band. This four-piece
group formed in 1998 in Rosario, Argentina, and their reputation has continued
to grow since then with ever increasing popularity in South America, and a
highly successful recent visit to the UK and Europe. In fact, following their
amazing concerts as part of our Easter Eggman Weekend, we just knew we had to
get Dios Salve a la Reina back for Beatle Week! Queen are certainly one of
the greatest bands of all time, and with such a rich catalogue of songs to chose
from, Dios Salve A La Reina’s concerts are packed full of classics. Pablo
Padín is Freddie Mercury… and we don’t just mean he plays the role of the
Queen front man – he really becomes Freddie on-stage! With guitarist
extraordinaire Francisco Calgaro as Brian May, Matías Albornoz in Roger Taylor’s
seat behind the drum kit and Ezequiel Tibaldo as the ever cool bassist John
Deacon, the band are able to play songs that Queen never really played live. One
of the sets highlights, unsurprisingly, is the 1975 number one Bohemian Rhapsody…
their performance is just astonishing. Whatever you do, however many of the
other bands you see this year, make sure you make time to see one of Dios Salve
A La Reina’s shows. As the band say, "Our aim is to rock the audience and
make them feel they’re seeing Freddie Mercury and Queen live", and you’d
be Stone Cold Crazy to miss them! Why are they playing Beatle Week? Bill Heckle
has two answers, one, Queen played The Cavern so it is relevant, but maybe the
real answer could be that Bill thinks they are one of the greatest tribute bands
of all time.
www.dsr.com.ar
GREEN
VILLAGE
On 6th July 1957 John met Paul and
soon after invited him to join his band The Quarry Men. Just a few months older
than Lennon and McCartney were on that historic day, the three members of
Green Village are only 18 and already two of them have followed in Lennon’s
footsteps having played at Quarry Bank School back in 2000 when Beatle
Week regulars will remember them as Two Of Us. Mind you, Joel and
Rasmus Ek did start playing and singing together at the age of 5 so they’ve
already been together longer than The Beatles! The cousin’s return to
Liverpool with their Stockholm High School friend Andreas Westerlund, and
with a new name; Green Village. The trio cover every aspect of the
Fabs career from early Beatles to the latest Paul McCartney songs,
as well as writing their own material, which they will be releasing
on CD very soon. All three are very excited to be invited to this
years Beatles festival. Rasmus and Joel know from experience how much fun
it is, and Andreas has heard all about it from them! Catch Green
Village throughout the weekend at the Cavern Club and
Pub.
www.greenvillage.tk
HAL
BRUCE
Celebrating his fifth consecutive
appearance at Beatle Week, Canadian Hal Bruce arrives in Liverpool following a
successful year that has seen him attending Beatles festivals all over the
world! He attended the first Australian Festival, along with The Mersey Beatles
and The Beatels, in Adelaide in June, and earlier this month played at Cleveland’s
Abbey Road On The River, where one of his four concerts was a one hour non-stop
209 song Beatles medley . . . in order of release, in the original keys etc, and
all alternating between an acoustic guitar and a piano! He is due to perform
this amazing medley on the Yellow Submarine Podium in Church Street on Monday.
It’s certainly a first, as far as we know! But how did this guy from Nova
Scotia become one of the world’s greatest solo Beatles performers? Well, Hal
saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan and formed his first band shortly after at the
age of 14, having purchased a $10 pawnshop guitar! He fronted a full-time band
for many years before beginning a solo career in 2000. He has since released two
Beatles tribute CD’s: "In My Life …" in 2002, was followed this
year by "I Will …" with Hal performing all vocals (lead and
background), guitars and bass on all the tracks. Hal Bruce’s outstanding
talent has won him many Canadian music awards, and we’re always thrilled
to welcome this fantastic musician back to Beatle Week.
www.halbruce.com
INSTANT
KARMA
Any body at Chavasse Park last
year on the Saturday would probably agree with me if I said "It was the
highlight of the week!" It was more like a comedy sketch with Yoko
(Victoria Sharpe) confirming her love of John at every opportunity! We can all
feel free to express our love and thanks to Jon (as in Keats) for his (almost)
unrivalled input into our annual shenanigans. He has of course been a
stalwart (look it up Jon, it means you are no spring chicken!) of Beatle Week
for many, many, many years. He brings a spark and a twinkle to the proceedings
and I suppose he will have etched upon his memorial the simple epitaph ‘Serve
yourself’, cos that’s what he is going to be remembered for. Jon is now a
successful entrepeneur (he can go into the preneur whenever he likes!)
with his Blundell Street Empire of restaurants and bars. His enthusiasm and
drive have helped make Blundell Street a huge local success story. But it
is in the guise of ‘Our John’ that Jon really excels and he brings to the
party those vital, genuine Liverpool ingredients that cannot be mimicked. You’ve
either got it or you haven’t and Jon definitely has it! This year after eleven
and a half months without practice, he brings to us the first Beatle Week
Bed-Inn at the Adelphi.God knows what it’s gonna be about, he won’t say cos
I don’t think he’s sure himself yet. One thing is for sure, it will be
irreverent, dead funny and it will capture the essence of the great man. It is
also a welcome return for Yoko and i am sure this will be a highlight of the
whole weekend. So, join John and Yoko in the main lounge at 2.00am (Friday into
Saturday) for a real treat. If you can’t stay up for that catch Jon with his
band, Instant Karma at the Mathew Street festival. Bring your pj’s.
JAN OWEN
Like many musicians and Beatle
fans in the United States, Jan Owen’s life was changed 40 years ago when The
Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. Say’s Jan; "I knew I wanted to
become a musician when I saw that," and he spent his teenage years
developing his guitar skills in his first band performing regularly in an exotic
dance lounge – the gig with the topless dancers ended when a TV repairman
recognised Jan in front of his Dad! Jan is now a solo performer and brings his
highly acclaimed one-man ‘Fab Fouray’ show to Liverpool for the first time.
He comes very highly recommended – having won two successive Beatlefest
sound-alike contests. His energetic sets include songs that would be challenge
enough for a four-piece band, let alone a solo guitarist. At his shows
throughout Beatle Week you can look forward to I’m Only Sleeping, where he ‘sings’
the backwards guitar lick; the entire Abbey Road Medley and most amazingly A Day
In The Life, with Jan simulating the 42-piece orchestral crescendo on his
acoustic guitar a truly impressive performance which has to be seen to be
believed. Jan is also a songwriter and has penned over 40 songs. His CD,
available at his shows throughout the festival, features his most requested
Beatles covers, some great classic songs by the likes of Eric Clapton, Elvis
Costello, Donovan and Elton John as well as several of his own excellent
compositions. Make sure you check Jan Owen out!
www.janowen.com
JOHNNY
SILVER
In October 1973 John Lennon left
Yoko Ono and went on his ‘lost weekend’. Hanging out in LA with Keith Moon
and Ringo Starr, John dated May Pang and they spent 15 months partying and
making music. Lennon released his Phil Spector produced ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’
album in 1975. So what better name for a band who knows how to party, and loves
to rock and roll than ‘Lost Weekend’, which is exactly what Johnny Silver’s
calling his band this year. Johnny, who also performs with The Silver Beatles,
first got together with the band in 1999 and they became the Lennon Revival.
Featuring Mike Doring (vocals, lead/rhythm guitar & keyboards), Andy Sindt
(bass), Rick Pohlman (drums) and Chris Alexander (keyboards), the band have
played at all of the major Beatle Week events including Strawberry Fields in
1998, the Casbah in 1999, Quarry Bank School in 2000 and Live Peace in Chavasse Park last
year. Johnny Silver has had great success with the self-written and produced
musical shows "She Loves You" and "Yesterday", both of which
toured extensively round Europe. This year he is unveiling a new show called
"A Day In The Life", which is a multimedia crossover project, devised
by Johnny, Mike Doring and Ian Watts of The Beatalls. Over the last
few years Ian has made numerous trips to Germany to play with Johnny and the
band, and this Beatle Week he will be joining them on-stage at some shows.
Johnny Silver and Lost Weekend will be at The Rawhide Comedy Club on Friday, as
well as various other venues throughout the festival. And if you’re reading
this programme on the way home from Beatle Week and you missed their shows,
remember what John Lennon wrote in the sleeve notes of that ‘Lost Weekend’
album … "You Should Have Been There." Dr Winston O’ Boogie.
www.johnnysilver.com
KAPPA
Are you ready to rock? Kappa
certainly are and you’d better hold on tight if you want to join them for a
ride through some of the best rock and roll to come out of Liverpool in many
years. Known as ‘The Amazing Kappa’, there is no doubting the validity of
this moniker afteryou’ve witnessed their show. Fronted by guitar supremo Paul
Kappa, the band performs his original songs and currently has a residency at the
Cavern Club. Bass player Martin Byrne and drummer Tony O’Keeffe have both
worked with other local bands, and together they provide fantastic backing for
Paul’s songs, showcased perfectlyon the bands debut album ‘Living @
The End Of The World’, which range from country style folk-ballads to
mid-seventies all-out rock, suggesting influences including Free, Led Zeppelin,
the Stones, The Byrds and even The White Stripes. There is absolutely no doubt
that Paul Kappa is an amazing guitarist and his fingers areliked greased
lighting on the fretboard of his beautiful Gretsch White Falcon. With rave
reviews of their first album, success is surely just around the corner. Catch
them at The Cavern, while you can! If you love him as much as we do then come
back on November 26th at the Royal Court Theatre for his ‘Guitar hero Show’
– unmissable!
www.kappaband.com
LAWRENCE
GILMOUR
There is no disputing Lawrence
Gilmour’s right to be billed as the World’s Number One Paul McCartney
impersonator. Even the great man himself looked no further than Lawrence when he
required a lookalike for his video shoot of ‘No Other Baby’. They hung out
together for several days, shared the same dressing room - sung together - even
had lunch together. As Lawrence said at the time "I was very impressed with
him. I admired him before but now I admire and respect him even more. He even
took the time to show me a few things on my own Hofner violin bass. We may never
meet again, but I think I had more than my fair share with my idol and
mentor." Lawrence was a Beatle Week regular until he moved to the United
States 3 years ago and so it’s with great pleasure that we welcome him back
again to this year’s Convention. He appeared as Macca in ‘Stars in their
Eyes’ ten years ago and has appeared in numerous TV shows since including TFI
Friday and a Channel 4documentary about the Beatles. He also sang live on LWT’s
‘Best of the Week’ and Channel 5’s ‘Night Fever’. He is an experienced
and versatile performer, working both as a solo artist and accompanied by bands
including Beatle Week friends Itchycoo Park, and has performed in large
Conventions, clubs, pubs, holiday camps, theatres, private and corporate
functions all over the world. And, like Paul McCartney himself, Mr. Gilmour can
also play piano, bass and guitar. Lawrence was proud to see himself up on the
big screen when he appeared in a full-length Italian film playing the part of
Paul and, more recently, he has appeared in fashion photo shoots with top
supermodel Linda Evangelista, as well as appearing in the adverts which sprung
up around Liverpool on the sides of buses and on giant billboards. So it’s
great to have Lawrence Gilmour back at Beatle Week again – the next best thing
to Macca is here to entertain you.
www.macca-central.com/lawrenceMacca
LES
BEATS
Beatle Week has received a fair
bit of television coverage over the years; many of you will remember the series
‘Hotel’ from a few years ago, which gave a behind-the-scenes look at life in
the Adelphi. Last year the Discovery Channel aired a documentary called ‘Beatlemania
Britain’ which visited some of the Beatle related landmarks and included
footage of Beatle Week. The episode was transmitted all across North America and
Europe, including Croatiawhere Erik Malnar saw it and became transfixed at the
idea of bringing his band Les Beat to this wonderful event in Liverpool. 10
years after their formation in Rijeka, the northern Croatian port, lead
guitar/vocalist Erik, with founding member Tomislav Raspor (bass), guitarist
Goran Rubesa and Marko Juric on drums have made it to that very festival. Their
show, which debuted on Lennon’s birthday back in1994 has since toured Zagreb,
Split, Dubrovnik and other cities throughout Croatia and Slovenia. Les Beat
organised two open-air concerts in their hometown and in Porec that were
broadcast on National TV. And they’ve even recorded a hip-hop-rock version of
Come Together and a live music video. Les Beat’s repertoire covers all
aspects of the Beatles careerand occasionally they include some solo songs too.
They play both acoustically and electrically and they enjoy performing some of
the lesser-heard songs including If I Needed Someone, And Your Bird Can Sing and
Wait, although of ourse they also play songs that are more familiar to
their Croatian audiences.
LIVERPOOL
Liverpool have been together now
for 25 years, and are yet another band celebrating their 10th appearance at
Beatle Week. Long having established themselves as Sweden’s best known Beatles
tribute band, their ‘Lennon’ singer/guitarist/keys player Olle Nilsson won
the Swedish equivalent of "Stars in Their Eyes" in 1994, and the band
have subsequently appeared on many television programmes, whilst also managing
to tour almost constantly in Scandinavia, across Europe, and even in the
Philippines. In December the band are off to the Caribbean Islands for a series
of concerts (we’re not jealous. Oh no. Not us) As well as being one of the
stars of the CCT 2002 released CD "Why Don’t We Do it in Abbey Road"
which I’m sure will be available in the Adelphi foyer, the band have a
1995-recorded album called "In Our Own Way" and in March 2015 they
released a new CD album with original music, featuring "Love is All",
their contribution to the Sweden’s Eurovision Song Contest selections for that
year. (And here’s a bit of interesting Beatles trivia - In the 80s Liverpool’s
drummer Kent was a member of the famous Swedish group "The Streaplers",
who, in, a previous incarnation actually performed together with The
Beatles when they toured in Sweden 1963) Liverpool are: Olle Nilsson, sings
Lennon, plays guitar and keyboards; Sebastian Roos sings McCartney and plays
guitar; Ronnie Roos (Sebastian’s dad) plays the bass and sings backing vocals;
Kent Szwonder Plays the drums and sings the Ringo and Harrison songs.
www.liverpool.se
LOS
BLACKBIRD
Los Blackbird were formed by
brothers Daniel and Diego Follonier in 1998. Adopting the parts of Paul and John
respectively, they found a perfect George Harrison in Martín Carrillo. Claudio
Benedetti completed their Beatle set as Ringo, and Edgardo Armoa was
bought into provide keyboards. The band come from Mendoza, Western Argentina
where, in the shadow of the Andes, they have become very popular with the Beatle
loving music fans. They performed at Latin American BeatleWeek for the first
time in 2002 and again in 2015, when they were selected as one of the two
winning bands, to play at Liverpool International Beatle Week 2016, the other
being fellow compatriots The Quarrymen, . Playing in Liverpool is a dream come
true for Los Blackbird and they are eager to see the city’s Beatle Landmarks,
meet the other musicians and make lots of new Beatle friends. When
they started in 1998 it was impossible for them to imagine that one day they’d
be playing in the Beatles’ hometown!
LOS
ESCARABAJOS
Los Escarabajos (meaning beetles
in Spanish), made their Beatle Week debut last year following 10 successful
years participating in Beatles conventions in Seville, the annual traditional
celebration of Las Fallas in Valencia, and numerous other performances across
Spain. Their debut at the Cavern Club last August, recorded for posterity along
with their other Beatle Week shows is available on their album ‘Alive with
Beetles’. Los Escarabajos, who call themselves ‘Spaniards in the works’,
perform songs that the Beatles never played live, demonstrate their vocal
talents with some of the lesser heard songs including Lovely Rita, with José
Luis mimicking McCartney’s complicated vocal flawlessly, Fixing a Hole (with
spoton lead guitar from Enrique Sánchez), The Word and Your Mother Should Know.
One of the highlights of their shows, and something e have never seen by
any other band at Beatle Week is the inclusion of both the 1963 and 1969
versions of One After 909, or One Before and After 909, as Los Escarabajos call
it. It’s great to hear both variations back to back! The CD will be available
from the band during Beatle Week, but why not go and see them perform live while
they’re here in Liverpool! Los Escarabajos, celebrating their tenth
anniversary, and tenth line-up, are founding member Enrique Sánchez (guitar),
Luis Abad (guitar), José Luis Blanco (drums) and new bassist, German musician
Alex Kugel.
www.losescarabajos.com
LUCY
IN THE SKY
For the last ten years Lucy In The
Sky has been one of the most popular and successful Beatles cover bands in
Germany. Performing the songs in their own, unmistakably lively and vivid style,
they don’t always try to recreate the songs as they were originally recorded.
In fact, the four musicians don’t consider themselves a revival band at all.
And this approach is obviously working for them, as one newspaper review put it;
"If the Beatles played today, they would sound like Lucy In TheSky."
So alongside authentic performance of hits like "She Loves You",
"Help!" or "A Hard Day’s Night", the quartet also offers a
vast repertoire of freely interpreted classics; "Eleanor Rigby" sounds
almost "grungy", "Norwegian Wood" is a cappella, and
"Drive My Car" becomes a soul number. Wearing sixties-style suits
onstage, as their heroes did, Lucy In The Sky exemplify danceable beats taking
the audience, both young and old, back in time to the wild Rock ‘n’ Roll of
the "early" Beatles. As far as Lucy In The Sky are concerned there is
no room for backing tracks or other gimmicks - two guitars, bass, drums, three
flawless voices and their charismatic stage appearance put these four gifted
musicians in the highest league. The result is countless commended concerts in
Germany and abroad, in clubs, at city celebrations, parties and other events.
Some years ago they conquered the famous "Star Club". In 2002 they
gave two triumphant concerts right here at The Cavern Club, where they recorded
their second live album. When the Beatles Anthology Book was released in
Germany, they toured all over the country promoting it. This year,
however, their success seems to have reached its highest peak. They have been
voted "best cover band" by a German radio station and received great
praise at the most important German Beatles convention in Berlin. Furthermore,
they headlined a Beatles festival in France, where they were the only German
band to play. However, Lucy in the Sky consider this invitation to Beatle Week
in Liverpool to be the biggest highlight of all! Lucy In The Sky are Peter Seel
(John), Bernd Gudernatsch (Paul), Dirk Lamm (George) and Robin Achenbach (Ringo).
www.lucy-in-the-sky.de
MAD
DOGS
Mixing Blues, Rock, Pop, Jazz and
a lot of good humour, the Mad Dogs band bet on irreverence and creativity as a
nice way to interact with the audience. "Alguém no bar, alguém pra me
pagar uma cerveja . . . (Someone in the bar, someone to buy me a beer . . .
)". This chorus, which opens their shows, encourages audience participation
– sometimes people actually follow the songs instructions and buy them a
beer!! Formed in 1997 they have developed a solid repertoire, recording their
first album in 2000. This album, which is entitled ‘Mad Dogs’, alternates
between Portuguese and English lyrics and the band are just completing their
second CD; ‘Bar doce Lar’, which contains 11 songs with some really
interesting lyrics, mostly in Portuguese. Their main influences are Pop and
Rock, fused with a touch of Blues, Jazz and Latin music too. Attending Beatle
Week for the second time, after gaining many new fans and friends last year, Mad
Dogs are back to entertain you with their energetic show. If you missed them in
2015, make sure they’re on your list for 2016! The band members are CBI
(vocals), Paulo Sarkis (bass), Marcos França (keyboards), Carlinhos Suassuna
(guitar), Fernando Suassuna (drums) and Neemias Lopes (saxophone).
www.maddogs.com.br
MARK
STACYER
The Beatles played the Olympia
Stadium in Detroit almost forty years ago, and on the 23rd August 1965 played
the concert at Shea Stadium. In the audience on both occasions was a young man
called Mark Staycer. Now, in 2016, this life-long Beatles fan and memorabilia
collector is bringing his tribute to John Lennon to the UK for the very first
time. Mark Staycer spent 20 years as a Disc Jockey in his native Michigan, but
in 2002 he debuted his ‘Tribute to Lennon’ show at the Traverse City
Area District Library; a show which has since led him to two consecutive
appearances at Abbey Road on the River in Cleveland, where he performed in front
of four thousand people and now to Beatle Week in Liverpool – an achievement
Mark is "dead chuffed" about! As a Lennon tribute Mark concentrates on
the post-1970 Lennon songs, although there is always a chance that you will hear
classic Beatle John songs like Norwegian Wood, If I Fell and In My Life,
alongside solo Lennon classics (Just Like) Starting Over, Number 9 Dream and, of
course, every Paul fans favourite song, How Do You Sleep! As a collector
of Beatles memorabilia, Mark will be in his element at Sunday’s Convention,
but no doubt his shows will be just as enthusiastic and exciting!
www.imaginelennon.com
ME
AND MY
MONKEY
Making their first appearance at
Beatle Week, this Texas based group have already built up a solid following in
the States. Comprising of founding members George Jara (George Harrison) and Rod
Bollinger (John Lennon), with Michael Daniel (RingoStarr) and Paul Sacco (Paul
McCartney) completing the line-up, the band have been in existence since 1998.Me
& My Monkey have made numerous US television appearances and have headlined
many festivals performing with the likes of Denny Laine of Wings and Gordon
Waller, of Peter and Gordon fame. The band are fastidious when it comes to
recreating both the sound and look of The Beatles and were voted Fort Worth
Weekly’s ‘best cover band’ in 2015. Their name, of course, is taken from
the side three, track four song on The Beatles White Album, and although the
band’s repertoire covers all aspects of The Beatles songbook, their Pier Head
show on Saturday will feature the last two years of the Fabs career.
Coincidentally their Cavern Club Back show on Thursday marks the 36th
anniversary of the US release of Hey Jude… no doubt Me & My Monkey will
include this song in their set! So make sure you catch Me & My Monkey …
Come on, it’s such a joy!
www.meandmymonkey.com
MERSEYBEAT
LEGENDS
In 1997 the Cavern Club celebrated
its 40th Anniversary with the unveiling of a Wall of Fame commemorating the
1,801 bands that played at the original Cavern Club between 1957 and 1973. One
of the bricks in the wall bears the name ‘The Seftons’, a group who played
at The Cavern in 1964. The MerseyBeat Legends are former ‘Sefton’ Yanni
Tsamplakos (guitars, lead vocals), who found success in 1970 when he wrote and
recorded the theme tune to the long-running TV show Candid Camera; Paul
Cornwell (lead guitar) who has played with many 60s revival bands and has
appeared alongside Denny Laine, Peter "Twiggy" Wood of Pink Floyd and
Snowy White; John Joce (bass) who also writes jingles and theme tunes and has
appeared on recordings with, among others, Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt
(Status Quo) Jools Holland, Sting, Phil Collins and Spandau Ballet; and John
Cotter (drums) who began his career with 60’s bands "Fleur de Lys"
and "The Mojos", and although John moved later into both rock and
punk, and more recently rhythm and blues, he still thinks of 60’s music
as his roots. Sue Lennox, the CCT accountant, introduced us to her friends the
MerseyBeat Legends, back in 2002 and we were so impressed we’ve invited them
to every Beatle Week since! We’d just like to take this opportunity to send
our best wishes to Sue for her wedding on September 18th. She’s not marrying a
John, Paul or Ringo, but she is marrying a George! Congratulations to Sue and
George for their big day! The MerseyBeat Legends will be performing hits by many
legendary groups including Gerry And The Pacemakers, The Swinging Blue
Jeans, The Searchers and, of course, The Beatles.
www.merseybeatlegends.com
MERSEYBEATLES
The Mersey Beatles are back; but
those fresh-faced Liverpool lads who made their Beatle Week debut in 2002 have
undergone a major change since we saw them last year, welcoming new member and
keyboard wizard Tony Cook. Tony considers himself to be more Billy Preston than
George Martin – it’s the afro wig and extensive course of sunbed treatments
that gives it away, but the addition of keyboards has allowed the new five-piece
to cover all eras of the Beatles back catalogue. The band has been very busy
over the last year – UK Beatle Weekers may have caught their national TV debut
this year on BBC1’s Bargain Hunt, with the boy’s not only providing the
Beatles music used in the show, but also taking part as contestants… and they
were able to dazzle us with their amazing knowledge of antiques… well, not
quite! Thankfully, theydecided not to give David Dickinson a run for his money,
and appeared on another BBC1 programme: Ground Force, doing what they’re known
for – providing entertainment for Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh with a
rocking version of Twist and Shout. The Mersey Beatles have been the resident
band at the Cavern Club for the last year and are looking forward to reaching
their heroes total of 292 performances at the club! A major highlight of the
past year was The Mersey Beatles trip ‘down under’ to officially open the
new Cavern Club in Adelaide, Australia. A fantastic time was had and the band
were overwhelmed by the reaction of the Aussies. A lot of new friends were
made, and there was the chance to meet up with old friends; a few tinnies were
had with The Australian Beatals, with Monty and the boys sending their best
wishes for this year’s festival. The boys have just returned from a tour of
Austria, returning just in time for Beatle Week where they promise plenty of
surprises and are looking forward to meeting up with old friends. So let Jay,
Ste, Dave, Brian and Tony take you on a Magical Musical History Tour…
and that's an invitation!
www.themerseybeatles.com
MIKE
PENDER'S SEARCHERS
Throughout the history of popular
music – and in particular during ‘The Swinging 60s’, the charts have been
dominated by groups. These inevitably produced a front man – usually
with a distinctive vocal style that became the group’s signature. The
Searchers were one such 60s group, sweeping to fame in 1963 with their first
recording ‘Sweets For My Sweet’ (one of three No. 1 hits –followed by no
less than 14 more chart hits). Voted second only to The Beatles in 1964,
The Searchers became a household name on both sides of the Atlantic. After their
first two hits, one man emerged as the creator of ‘The Searcher’s’ sound
that was to become a legend in ‘Pop’ music, The man responsible for the
highly distinctive vocals and that ‘jangly’ twelve string guitar is Mike
Pender. Today the sounds of the 60s are as popular as ever. Constantly creating
new audiences as well as pleasing older fans ‘Mike Pender’s Searchers’
still travel the UK and the world, singing, playing and creating that
distinctive sound that has become a legend in popular music. Mike Pender
featured heavily in the BBC TV’s highly acclaimed "Rock Family Tree"
programme which plotted the history of the major groups who created the unique
Liverpool Explosion. Mike Pender’s Searcher’s provide the link between pure
60s nostalgia and what is equally relevant today. The hits include: Needles N’
Pins/Goodbye My Love/Sugar N’ Spice/ Love Potion No. 9/ Sweets For My Sweet/
When You Walk In The Room/ Don’t Throw Your Love Away/ Take Me For What I’m
Worth/ What Have They Done To The Rain . . and Many More
MOONDOGS
The Moon Dogs are from Ontario and
were formed towards the end of 2002. Dave Cook first decided that he wanted to
be a guitarist after seeing the Beatles play live in Toronto, back in 1966; he
hasn’t looked back since, playing in many bands across Canada including
"El-Dorado" and "Whiskey River". Drummer Glenn MacKinnon
started performing at the age of five and has been a professional
singer/musician his entire adult life. He is also the front man for one of
Southern Ontario’s best classic rock bands "3rd Wave". Wally Coleman
has been playing guitar for nearly 20 years, and has played in many bands as
well as co-writing songs for movie soundtracks. The band’s bass player Nick
Thiel is no stranger to Liverpool, having attended Beatle Week the last few
years. Aside from playing bass/guitar since he was teenager, he has worked
as an advisor to the top Beatles equipment manufacturers Rickenbacker, Hofner
and Vox, and is considered by many to be one of the world’s leading
authorities on the subject, owning and operating www.beatlesgear.com
and www.voxtalks.com. He’s advised many other Beatle Week bands, including
1964...The Tribute, whom he assisted with their Cavern recreation show during
Beatle Week 2001. The Moon Dogs’ setlists draw on a variety of sixties
related music, but mainly British Invasion bands. They cover songs by The
Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Hollies, The Kinks, The Who, The Yardbirds,
Dave Clark 5, The Zombies, The Small Faces, etc. along with some American
groups like The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Paul Revere and The Raiders, The
Association, Johnny Rivers and many more. And of course, with Nick’s knowledge
and extensive contacts, the band’s gear is a mouthwatering display of Gretsch,
Rickenbacker, Hofner, Vox; everything they need to help recreate those sounds of
the sixties faithfully.
www.moondogs.ca
NORWEIGIAN
BEATLES
We are delighted to welcome to
Liverpool for the second consecutive year, the worlds most northernmost Beatles
Tribute band, from Alta, Norway – The Norwegian Beatless! Beatlefans since
childhood, the four members of The Norwegian Beatless have only been playing
together since October 2002 but in that time have played at the Norwegian
Beatles Festival in Trondheim, the Bourges Festival in France, last years
Liverpool Beatle Week and a variety of other musical events in Norway.
Featuring Bjørn Conrad Berg as John, Kjetil Linnes as Paul, Håvard Pedersen as
George and Kai Henning Skimelid as Ringo, The Norwegian Beatless show
spans the Beatles entire recording career with songs ranging from She Loves You
to Helter Skelter, I Feel Fine to Something. On stage they wear replica Shea
Stadium jackets, play instruments by Rickenbacker, Gibson, Hofner, Gretsch
and Ludwig and Kjetil has even learnt to play his violin bass left-handed
to ensure that The Norwegian Beatless are as authentic as they can
possibly be.
www.cinematicworld.com/beatless.html
OVERTURES
Regular attendees will be pleased
to see The Overtures return this ear for their 7th Beatle Week appearance, and
while Den Pugsley, Steve Phypers and Chris Skornia have become familiar
faces, this year the band have a 5-piece line up and are thrilled to introduce
new guitarists Jamie Cook and Phil Evans. The Overtures repertoire is
astounding. They play over 300 great 60’s songs from US records like Sweet
Soul Music and California Dreamin’ to UK hits Just One Look and You Really Got
Me. The Overtures are certainly one of the greatest party bands in the country,
and if you don’t believe us; just ask Elvis Costello . . . they played at
Elvis and Diana Krall’s wedding last December, at the Windsor home of Elton
John and with a certain Sir Paul and Heather Mills McCartney in attendance!
Elton described the band as "F*****g awesome", boogying on the dance
floor for their entire performance and Macca also gave them his personal
approval. They’ve been hanging out with more rock royalty recently supporting
Blondie (along with Will Young) at Oxfordshire’s Cornbury Festival in July,
and good news for their Sweden fan base; The Overtures will be in
Trollhättan in October to perform with Rocks Off and Lenny Pane. Their Beatle
Week performances are always electric and with this exciting new line-up,
The Overtures are guaranteed to make 2016 yet another rocking and rolling
year!
www.theovertures.com
PARROTS
For the Beatles fan, there are
many spine tingling moments to be had at Liverpool Beatle Week. Smelling the
Cavern for the first time, hearing the first properly played descending G7 of
the week and being part of the Beatle T-Shirted hive-consciousness that engulfs
the city at the end of August every year. But believe me when I say that one of
your most abiding memories of the event is going to be hearing Mamoru Yoshii
(John) delivering the opening yell of the Parrots ‘signature’ song - Mister
Moonlight. The rest of the band are Takeshi Noguchi (Paul), Akiahiro Matsuyama
(George), Teruyuki Matsuzaki (Ringo) with Fumiya Matsuyama providing Billy
Preston support. They are stalwarts of the thriving Tokyo Beatles scene and are
currently resident band at the Abbey Road Club in the Koppingi district of the
city. Last time they were in Liverpool there were plans afoot to record a CD of
their Beatles tunes and this may well have happened but as their website is in
Japanese and that’s not one of the Editors better languages, we can’t tell
you if this has indeed come to pass. It’s always a pleasure to welcome the
Japanese bands, (and their impeccably behaved and beautifully dressed fans) to
Liverpool as their energy and enthusiasm for all things Fab is invigorating to
share.
PETE
BEST
BAND
A man who needs very little
introduction to Beatles fans, Pete Best is the man who put the beat into
Beatles. He became a Silver Beatle in August 1960, joining at the request of
Paul, just as the band began the first of their grueling residencies in Hamburg.
The band went to Hamburg as naïve young Liverpool lads, but on the mean streets
of St Pauli they quickly matured and returned home to play their first gig as
the Beatles at The Casbah, the club run by Pete’s mother Mona Best in the
basement of their West Derby home. When The Beatles returned to Germany in
1961 they had been promoted to the Top Ten club, where they were
contracted to record a single backing Tony Sheridan. Pete, John, Paul and George
all played and sang backing vocals on this record, which speedily made it’s
way across the English Channel and was to bring the group to the attention
of Brian Epstein. When Brian offered to manage the group, with a promise that he
would do his best to get them a recording contract, Pete and the other Beatles
eagerly agreed to this ticket to stardom. Attending auditions for Decca,
where they were famously turned down, and other record labels, they eventually
met and auditioned for George Martin on the Parlophone label. Within weeks
they were recording their first single, Love Me Do… but bad news was to come
for Pete Best. There was uproar from fans back at the Cavern, where Pete was
known as ‘Mean, Moody and Magnificent’ when he was sacked by The Beatles,
and replaced by Ringo in August 1962.His contribution to the greatest band of
the 20thCentury has not gone unrecognised though, and he featured heavily
in The Beatles Anthology series and albums. In 2015 Pete, and his brothers
Roag and Rory Best released a book about the early history of the Beatles from
the days in the Casbah Club entitled ‘True Beginnings’. Pete is now touring
again, in a show that invites the audience to join him on a trip down the
long and winding road to The Beatles humble beginning and their ascent to
the top of the show business ladder. Along with his band Roag Best
(drums), Mark Hay (lead guitar), Phil Melia (rhythm guitar), Chris Cavanagh
(vocals) & Dave Deevey (bass), Pete Best is pleased to bring the music
of the decade he was such an important part of to audiences all over the world,
but especially back home to Liverpool.
www.petebest.com
PHIL
MELIA
I was quite amused late in July to
see a sign outside of a Merseyside pub proclaiming the arrival of a new young
band, "Mojo Filter Every Friday!" It was as if somebody had
transported me back over 20 years to the early 80's when four young bucks from
Liverpool roared onto the Beatles Stage. Mojo Filter were awesome and had a huge
(albeit mainly female) following. The name is of course derived from the lyrics
of 'Come Together'. Mojo Filter, or just Mojo to the locals , were avid Beatles
fans who performed a mix of covers and their own excellent numbers. They toured
Japan and America and the only real surprise is that they did not go on to
become national and international superstars! Phil Melia was the guitarist and
singer in the band and was joined by Andy on drums and two other stalwarts of
the Beatlescene, Paul Cooper who went on to play Paul in the Bootleg Beatles and
Rick Alan who we all know and love as our own Hare Georgeson and guru of the
Mathew Street Festival. Phil is now a very happily married man whose only vice
is touring the world as a member of The Pete Best Band (can't get away from
those Beatles can you?). Phil made a solo debut at The Egg Man Festival last
Easter and he went down an absolute storm with the fans, which is hardly
surprising given his undoubted pedigree and love of all things "Fab".
So it was an absolute cert that we had to welcome him back for Beatle Week. You
can also catch him play with Pete (Best) at The Cavern on Thursday and at the
Mathew Street Festival on Monday.
PRELLIES
In 1962 The Beatles were one of
England’s top live rock bands and stars of the Hamburg St Pauli scene. A
thousand performances in Liverpool and Hamburg had transformed a bunch of
enthusiastic amateurs into a mean, lean combo with over three hundred songs in
their repertoire. What did they sound like then, before Brian Epstein and George
Martin got hold of them? What did they sound like live, in the dance hall? What
did they sound like before they reduced their live set to ten songs?. . . . . .
they sounded like The Prellies. Taking their cue from the legendary Beatles Star
Club recordings made in Hamburg in December 1962, The Prellies are jump-starting
the twitching corpse of the raw garage rock n’ roll sound that evolved into
the more polished Mersey Beat. From their early beginnings in 2002 The
Prellies were very much a part of the Liverpool retro scene – their debut gig,
no less, was at the 40th anniversary party of the Casbah Club, and in 2015,
following floor-shaking shows at venues including the Jacaranda and The Cavern,
they came and blew our cobwebs away at Beatle Week. Their return to the Casbah
this Easter was one of the highlights of the Eggman Weekend, with Jules Prellie’s
memorable 20 minute long rendition of ‘Shout’ and a three-second version of
‘Hippy Hippy Shake’, "’cos", says Trev Prellie, "we forgot
how to play it!" The Prellies embarked on various overseas bookings in the
last year including the Belgium Beatles Convention where they backed Hamburg
legend Tony Sheridan. In May Trev, Jules, Gaz Prellie and Chris Prellie joined
the Original Quarrymen at John Lennon’s Dovedale School, and the following
month they enjoyed a 10-day residency at the main music venue for the Isle of
Man TT Races. Most recently they were invited by Fulcrum TV to appear in a
documentary about The Beatles. The Prellies recorded the live soundtrack for the
programme and were filmed performing in the Cavern Club, supported by an
audience of enthusiastic, screaming fans! The programme is due to be transmitted
on Channel 5 this autumn. As for Beatle Week, expect forgotten and
unrecorded classics from the Beatles massive 1962 set list like ‘Red Sails in
the Sunset’ and ‘Shimmy Shake’. Just don’t expect any Beatles
songs.
www.theprellies.co.uk
PURPLE
GANG
ORIGINAL
QUARRYMEN
Any Beatle fan, worthy of
the name, knows of The Quarrymen’s importance in the history of the group that
was to become the most famous in the world. For it was in 1957 at the Quarry
Bank High School that John Lennon, together with likeminded musical friends,
formed a "skiffle group’. Skiffle was an inexpensive and simple way to
create music – all that was required was a Spanish guitar, a tea chest bass, a
washboard and maybe a snare drum as well. Joined by friends Pete Shotton on
washboard and tea chest bass; Colin Hanton on drums; Len Garry on guitar
and vocals and Eric Griffiths and Rod Davis on guitars, the Quarrymen performed
at private parties, local venues and skiffle competitions. Forty years later, a
party was held at The Cavern to which they invited hundreds of musicians who had
played there over the years. This, of course, included The Quarrymen and, as the
day wore on they were eventually asked to get up and play. As a result of this
meeting, the group were invited, in July 1997, to help recreate "The Day
John met Paul" in Woolton. In response to public demand, The Quarrymen
recorded a CD in the authentic skiffle style from their 1957 repertoire. Since
then, they have performed to enthusiastic audiences in the USA, Holland, Cuba,
Canada, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Japan, giving Beatle fans a
taste of the music which inspired John, Paul and George at the start of their
careers. The Quarrymen are composed of four of the five musicians who were
onstage with John the day he met Paul – Len Garry, Eric Griffiths, Colin
Hanton and Rod Davis. The fifth Quarryman, Pete Shotton, retired some years ago.
So don’t miss the Quarrymen at this year’s convention, as they will also be
promoting a brand new ‘skiffle and rock ’n’ roll CD which features many
significant songs from The Quarrymen’s history.
www.quarrymen.co.uk
QUARRYMEN
Quarrymen, a great
six-piece band, formed in October 1998, were originally a quartet which went
under the name ‘Rubber’, then changed to ‘Moondogs’ in December 1999 and
finally to ‘Quarrymen’ in March 2000, when they performed their first
concert under the new name in the Open Pringles Café in Rosario, Argentina. In
2000, with a line-up consisting of Franco Maccagno (vocals), Federico Martin
(guitar/vocals), Leonardo Monaco (bass/vocals) and Agustin Vit (drums/vocals),
Quarrymen played a six-month residency at the Sailor’s Mission pub, as well as
many other engagements and TV appearances. In July of that year they recorded
their first CD of Beatles covers and then in November 2000 they celebrated their
100th show in La Fluvial. Quarrymen continued to expand in 2002 and 2015 taking
on two new members: Sebastian Boeris on keyboards and Ronniffer Ronston on
lead guitar. Their ever-increasing popularity led them to be invited to take
part in Latin American Beatle Week 2015 where they played alongside 40 of the
best bands in South America. They were chosen along with Los Blackbird as the
winners of the Battle of the Bands competition, the prize being inclusion in
Liverpool Beatle Week! Quarrymen consider this their greatest achievement and
are honoured to be a part of the most important Beatle party in the world!
www.quarrymen.com.ar
REPEATLES
Continuing our 40 years ago theme,
in the summer of 1964, the Beatles played several gigs which link rather nicely
with this band from Sweden! Firstly, in July, there were two dates at the
Johanneshovs Isstadion in Stockholm; The Repeatles home city, and the following
month they played thefar less exotic sounding Blackpool Opera House alongside an
upcoming London band called the High Numbers. Those of you with a good knowledge
of British rock will know that the High Numbers later changed their name to The
Who… and you’ll hear many of their greatest songs at a Repeatles show! The
four members ofRepeatles have a long and varied musical history playing in
many successful Swedish pop/rock bands including The Moderns, Strindbergs &
Japop. Jan Leonard (guitar, piano, vocals) and ArnieBrox (bass, vocals) met at a
friends wedding in 1997 and is covered a shared interest in Beatles and
sixties music, forming The Repeatles shortly after with Pete Beck on guitar
& vocals, and Jan’s friend from the punk days Steve Kling on drums. The
Repeatles mission statement is simple – to travel the world as the best
sixties revival band, spreading peace, love, understanding and good karma
everywhere. They are currently working on an album of original material under
the name Love Junkies, which is inspired by the music of the 60’s and 70’s
which they love so much. The Repeatles are one of the finest 60’s tribute
bands at Beatle Week, including in their enthusiastic and exciting set material
by The Who, The Byrds, The Hollies, The Kinks, The Beatles of course, and a new
recent addition to their repertoire, a song by the ever popular Beach Boys! Jan,
Arnie, Pete and Steve will be rocking and rolling at the Cavern Pub, Club and
Adelphi Hotel throughout the week!
www.repeatles.com
RINGER
I said to Ian ‘Why not BRING’ER?’
He replied ‘Nae way, not when there’s Swedish INGA. Ian will be at
the Bar where he will definitely LINGER with Steve McDonald his EX-SINGER.
Come Wednesday he’ll be so green around the gills he will look like
a NINJA (turtle). Did you know that before he was grey, Gregor was
actually GINGER and that Chris was a SWINGER who appeared on
Jerry SPRINGER. Willie is always the one who gets the MINGER.
After this I’ll probably be the one who gets the FINGER and they will
call me a WHINGER, which is fine by me because maybe, just maybe, after
reading this absolute crap, Ian, Willie Gregor and Chris will actually
send in an update of the biography next year!!! How on earth do you find
something new to say about a band who have played at Beatle Week for over 20
years? Especially when they don’t give you new information! I
think I can summarise this . . . like this biog . . . there’s a lot that might
sound a bit like Ringer, but there is nothing quite like the real thing (er)!
(I didn’t even mention Willie’s
Vinegar Strokes!)
ROCKS
OFF
For the third successive year
at Beatle Week comes the amazing Swedish Rolling Stones Tribute, Rocks Off.
Since their formation in 1995, the band has appeared on many TV shows including
Sweden’s Stars In Their Eyes and last summer when The Rolling Stones played 3
sold-out shows in Stockholm, Rocks Off performed live on one of the biggest
morning news shows on Swedish National TV. They have also played several hugely
successful Beatles vs. Stones shows, working alongside fellow Beatle Week
friends Liverpool. Last year the band gave some amazing performances at the
Adelphi and the Cavern as wellas the Mathew Street Festival where they
rocked a huge crowd on the Chavasse Park Stage! Front man Tony Johnson’s got
the sound, looks and moves and is probably the closest you’ll come to see a
25-year younger Mick Jagger, while Tony’s Glimmer Twin and rock ‘n’ roll
partner in crime, albeit a blond version, Roger Mikander is the band’s natural
riff meister as Keith Richards. Together with curly-haired, gentle boy, Lars Elf
handling the second guitar, Stone-faced Toggan Ehrieder on bass has made an art
of standing still, and Pär Lilja who is the heaviest, fake left-handed Charlie
Watts on this side of the world; Rocks Off delivers a sound so authentic that
you won’t be able to tell whether you’ll hearing the real thing or
not!
www.rocksoff.nu
ROLANDO
Rolando Giambelli is an old friend
of cavern City Tours, he is president of the Beatle People Association of Italy
(Beatlesianid’Italia Associati), whose most recent event at Rome’s Teatro
Adriano in June, celebrated the 39th anniversary of the Beatles appearance at
the same venue. As well as running the Fan Club, Rolando is a musician and has played
at Liverpool Beatle Week on many occasions in various different guises and with
an array of friends and family members. This year though, he’s going
solo; performing Beatles songs, interspersed with other classic songs from the
last 50years. He accompanies himself on the guitar, also playing percussion, a
mouth organ or a kazoo (but not all at the same time!). Rolando is a warm and
kind-hearted guy who has the amazing ability to get any audience on their feet,
clapping their hands and singing along, which can be quite a challenge by
Tuesday night, when the partying begins to take it’s toll! He’s a great
promoter of Beatle Week in Italy, and we’rehonoured to have his support and be
able to enjoy his fabulous musicianship once
again. Beatlesiani d’Italia Associati:
www.beatlesiani.i
SCOTT
WHEELER
SKEGGSY
& THE
HOTDOGS
Tony Skeggs has one major
disadvantage in his solo bid for the top. He is a Spurs fan! Whilst it doesn’t
affect his playing it could have in the past messed up his songwriting, making
him sound like Leonard Cohen on Prozac! Some would say, just like Spurs, that
Skeggsy hasn’t had a hit since the Sixties. Unlike Spurs (who look as dire as
ever) Tony is just about to throw off the shackles of the past Bill Nicholson
era, and launch his new album of great upbeat pop music at its very best. Tony
as regulars know, was part of the dynamic duo, along with Den, as lead singers
in the Overtures and as such they captured the hearts and minds of
conventioneers. All things must pass as they say and Tony left the band 18
months ago to pursue a solo career. It seems the move has worked for both the
Overtures and indeed for Tony, who as at last taken the time to write new songs,
and finally finish a lot of old uns! He moved to New York City and teamed up
with Faux Rich Pagano and recorded the whole album in Rich's studio. Rich
also plays on the album. The album is an absolute cracker and in football terms
I have to admit it is more ‘Gunner’ than ‘Lillywhite’!
A must-buy for all conventioneers, you can purchase a copy at the Cavern City
Tours desk all weekend. Tony is playing with the Fab Faux on some numbers are
the weekend and on Sunday and Monday he will be appearing at the Mathew Street
Festival with the Hot Dogs (I prefer chicken myself – in joke
Editor) The Hot Dogs are old friends Chris Grindrod (bass), Justin Crowe
(keyboards), and Rick Hughes (drums) all of Gary Gibson Band fame. They
will treat you to a Mod Odyssey at the Mathew Street Festival,
with a trip down memory lane; The Small Faces, The Kinks, The Who etc., the good
old days when Spurs were Top of The Pops!
THE
BEATLES REVIVAL
The Beatles Revival, who have
played over 650 gigs all over Europe since their inception in 1996, made their
British debut at last years Beatle Week. They take pride in their
fastidious approach to detail – Zbynek is a left-handed bassist, their
instruments are all authentic replica’s of The Beatles and of course, they
have custom-made ‘boots and suits’. Their professionalism has resulted
in them being hired as the opening act for many famous names including Joe
Cocker, The Rubettes, The Animals and The Smokie, as well as many appearances on
European Television. At the annual Estrel Beatles Festival in Berlin, Germany in
2002 they were runners up of the Battle of the Bands contest. Last year, in
Liverpool, The Beatles Revival realised their ambition of meeting Brian
Epstein’s personal assistant, and former Apple General Manager Alistair
Taylor. They considered Alistair to be one of the key figures in the Beatles
history, which of course he was, and he will be very sadly missed by The Beatles
Revival, and by all of us here at Beatle Week. As with several other bands we
have had here over the years, brothers play the parts of John and Paul – it
must be some kind of natural musical rivalry! The Beatles Revival brothers are
Ludek and Zbynek Maulis, while Petr Lux is the bands Quiet One and Jiri Tomisin
holds them altogether with the steady backbeat of his drums!
www.thebeatles.cz
TIM
PIPER
We’re eagerly anticipating
Working Class Hero’s shows – they’re a band we’re been trying to get to
Beatle Week for ages! Anyway, they’re finally here and we’re sure it’s
going to be worth the wait. Tim Piper is one of the foremost Lennon
impersonators in the world, so much so that he has been chosen to portray his
hero in TV movies such as E! Network’s ‘Beatles Wives’ and CBS’s ‘The
Linda McCartney Story’. Not only does Tim physically resemble Lennon, he
sounds uncannily like him too, and he and his band Working Class Hero have been
invited to play at many celebrity parties including lifelong Beatles fan Tom
Hanks 10th Anniversary and celebrations at the homes of Tom Cruise and Steve
Spielberg. Tim also portrays John in a Beatles tribute band called Revolution,
along with bass-playing brother Greg Piper. They created Working Class Hero in
1999, joining up with Gretsch aficionado Don Butler on guitar. Don, who is
well respected in the guitar community, is actively involved in both the
Rickenbacker and Gretsch online forums, as well as owning ‘Toneman’, a
vintage valve/tube amp and guitar service. The line-up is completed by ace
sticksman Les Perez on drums. Working Class Hero are the only tribute band to
have performed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, where they
celebrated John Lennon’s birthday in 2001. Cheered and acclaimed everywhere
they play, there is no doubt that the Beatle Week audience will give Working
Class Hero the rapturous reception they deserve.
www.workingclasshero.us
TRIPPER
After tremendous success at last
years Beatle Week and our first Easter Eggman weekend, Tripper are back. And as
festival egulars will know, being part of the Ringer rock family tree, it’s
only natural that Tripper have augmented into a five-piece lineup; welcoming
Steve McDonald’s former Ringer bandmate Grant Roberts into the fold. The
addition of Grant on bass/guitar makes Tripper even more versatile than before,
and with the fabulous musicianship of Steve Northey (guitar), Kevin Skelly
(bass/guitar/keyboards) and John Reilly (drums), frontman Steve McDonald
(guitar/bass) believes "even after thirty years of performing with McDonald’s
Farm, Ringer and now Tripper it just feels real good to be still turned on and
motivated by this magical world of The Beatles". Tripper are currently
writing and devising a multi-media audiovisual stage show based on the
lives of John, Paul, George and Ringo, of which Steve tells us, "it is
something I feel very passionate about, after a lifetime of pleasure that
The Beatles have given to me, I feel that I want to give a little back".
They’re hoping to have the show on the road by the end of the year, so keep
checking their website for details. As for Beatle Week, well Tripper will
ensure the audience is rocking and rolling at all their gigs, and with
highlights from Easter Eggman like ‘Isn’t It A Pity’, ‘Nobody Told Me’
and ‘Here Comes The Sun’, it shouldn’t be too difficult!
www.tripperuk.com
TWO
OF US
Two Of Us, the opening track on
the ‘Let It Be’ album, provides the perfect name for this Dutch duo, Jos
Vervoort and Adrie van Osch. The two musicians met up in the early Seventies,
both sharing a mutual appreciation of The Beatles music and, by 1975, were
performing the songs of The Fab Four onstage. They have played together for
nearly thirty years now and have a repertoire of around 200 songs, not only
Beatle number but also memorable hits from other Sixties greats: The Kinks,
Mamas and Papas, The Small Faces The Stones etc. Jos is the lead singer, and
also plays flute and saxophone, while Adrie accompanies him on the guitar as
well as providing backing vocals. To celebrate their 25th anniversary as a duo,
Two Of Us released a CD called ‘The First’, which contains select tracks
from their varied repertoire. Two Of Us have played in Holland, Germany, France
and Belgium, though Adrie and Jos consider their concerts during Beatle Week’s
2001 and 2015 as the real highlights of their career. They are delighted to be
back in Liverpool again this year and will be joined by a large following of
enthusiastic Dutch and British fans. And for Jos and Adrie . . . it will
certainly be a thrill . . .
www.twoofus.info
WINNERYS
Hailing from the Spanish capital
Madrid, The Winnerys formed around a nucleus of Fausto "Sugar Winnery"
Martín (vocals, lead guitar), Javier "Magic Winnery" Polo (vocals,
bass) and Juanjo "Hammer Winnery" Martin (drums) when their 60’s/Beatles
covers band The Bad Boys called it a day in 1999. Borja "Happy Winnery"
Bonafuente (vocals, rhythm guitar) soon completed the line-up and they began
writing their own material, playing their live debut in June 2001. Later that
year they recorded a 9-song demo CD including future Winnery classics "It’s
Up To You", "Messages Inside" and "Little Dark Cloud"
which led to them cutting their first album, And The Winnerys, in December 2002.
The album was released by the prestigious Madrid label Rock Indiana in June 2015
and subsequently licensed to American label Rainbow Quartz in March this year.
Reviewers have been unanimous in their praise. In the meantime, the band have
built a fearsome reputation as a stunning live act by virtue of their constant
touring all over Spain and in October 2015 made their UK debut at The Cavern in
Liverpool as part of International Pop Overthrow. In May they played in New York
and Chicago in support of the American release of the album and left jaws on
floors at every turn. In October 2002, they headlined the 40th anniversary of
"Love Me Do" show in Madrid where they began road testing several new
cover versions which would appear in their set over the coming months and will
form the backbone of their shows at Beatle Week this year. This is The Winnerys’
first appearance at Beatle Week but we can guarantee that once you’ve seen
them you’ll wonder how you lived without them for so long. If you love their performances
praise Bill, if you don’t, blame Jean Catherall who pestered Bill
to invite them to Beatle Week 2016! (I think Bill is gonna get more praise than
he deserves.
www.thewinnerys.com
YAR
BAND
‘How Does It Feel To Change The
World?’ This was the tag line for Beatles Anthology project,back in 1995 (nine
years ago already? Oh my . . . ). Some may have dismissed it as
pimply hyperbole – but the truth is, as powerful and enduring as the
music is, The Beatles are about so much more than just that… and in welcoming
the Yar Band from Chelyabinsk in Russia to Liverpool we are welcoming a group of
people who know this for certain. Back in 2000, band front man and chart topping
Russian folk musician-cum-rock star Valery Yarushin successfully
campaigned for Lenin Street in the town to be renamed Lennon Street. Only a
matter of 2 letters, perhaps . . . but what a world changing spell-check that
is. The town square too has been renamed in honour of John – though no sign
yet of Harrison Boulevard or Starkey Plaza. The Yar Band has its roots in a
school band from the mid 70s, and has reformed especially with the intention of
playing Liverpool Beatle Week 2016. Not that the band members are strangers to
the city. They and their families have visited the festival many times and the
effect of this must have run deep with the younger generations. Alena Yarushina,
Valery’s daughter, is also a member of the band. Yuri Potapov, Zahir
Nasibullin, Victor Litvinovi and Anatoli Litvinovi make up the rest of the band.
Talk about a Russian revolution… the Beatles certainly changed the
world.
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