Beatles fans are in luck at the moment as there seems to be an abundance of Beatles related events cropping up. The Workman’s decided to get in on the action by holding its very own night dedicated to the fab four.
First up were Novastone who I have to admit I didn’t expect much from. I was very pleasantly surprised, they gave the headliner Revolver a real run for their money. The Dublin four piece really brought the songs to life and injected them with a rockier edge and power that the originals don’t have. They shied away from the big hits which was nice and played some of the lesser heard songs such as Hey Bulldog and my personal favourite This Boy. They really got the crowd going and at one stage compared the sound to Shea stadium which raised quite a few laughs. I think they could have done with a bigger slot, definitely a band I will watch out for again.
After a short interval we were then treated to a short play titled Lennon vs McCartney. Since the dawn of Time human beings have gathered in pubs and argued about who is greater, John Lennon or Paul McCartney. Written and directed by Stephen Kennedy, and performed by Dylan McDonough and Kevin McGahern, this play argued the merits of each with Dylan and Kevin on opposing teams. It had some hilarious points and the crowd loved it. It was a nice break from the music and it gave the audience a taste of something different while still remaining true to the theme of the night. I can see it being performed at other Beatles events for a long time to come.
And finally we had Revolver. The Scottish four piece are widely considered to be one of the best Beatles tribute acts in the world right now. They pride themselves on performing live, authentic and accurate representations of a wide range of classic songs from all periods of The Beatles back catalogue. They only formed in 2008, but already they have built up an impressive live reputation in Beatles circles by touring solidly around the world since their formation. The amount of work they must put into their performances to get it right must be endless, the harmonies were perfect, and there wasn’t a note out of place. They played songs from every era but didn’t touch on the early stuff as much as I’d hoped they would. Still, I really enjoyed them and it was impossible not get up and join the crowd in dancing along to all the hits. The crowd really got involved and added their own harmonies to songs such as I Am The Walrus and Come Together. Just like Novastone they shied away from the very obvious hits and kept things fresh by including some hidden gems like One After Nine Oh Nine and The Ballad of John and Yoko. Of course they included a few big ones like Eleanor Rigby but they mixed it up a lot so that it never got boring and you never knew what to expect next. The entire audience was disappointed when it was time for them to go, they could easily have played for a couple more hours and nobody would have tired of them. After seeing them live I can now see how they got their title as one of the best Beatles cover acts.
All in all I had a great night, I’m a big Beatles fan myself and so it was great to have a whole night of music dedicated to them and share in the company of like-minded people. As it was a mostly an older audience there was a great relaxed atmosphere throughout the night. It’s amazing to think that the music of The Beatles can still capture an audience like that, so many generations after it was released. It was a great night and I hope that there are many more events like this in the near future.