storrsroars
Exiled in Pittsburgh
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2012
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I'd never heard of them until Tuesday, and now I've probably spent the better part of my free time the past 72 hours watching YTs of these five Dutch guys performing the albums/songs the Beatles never played live. It's engrossing in ways I can't describe and maybe that folks younger than I (I was 11 when Sgt Pepper came out) might not fully appreciate. But I think the true musicians here will get a kick out of watching the documentary.
Unlike all the Beatles cover bands that put on Beatlemania and the like and focus on the "look" of the band, these guys are on a quest to find the real sounds. It's like they consider the Beatles to be Mozart and they're not a cover band but a philharmonic orchestra.
Finding those original sounds means buying and restoring a Mellotron and other vintage instruments, finding an Indian tabla player, playing live with cabinets with tubes and 50 year old equipment that breaks down and few people know how to repair. It's also deconstructing tapes of recordings for hours to find errors and hidden stuff that maybe casual listeners miss. The drummer, who happens to be a multimillionaire ex-chairman of Tommy Hilfiger's parent company PVH, just opens his checkbook and gets them whatever they need.
They've never played in the US and I don't know if they will. They're currently touring the White Album in Europe after having done previous tours of Magical Mystery Tour (snippets) and Sgt. Pepper's (complete). Their mission statement suggests they'll do Abbey Road in the future. They also have a number of individual songs on YT.
If I had the money and time, I'd fly to Europe to see one of these shows. I think it's amazing what they've accomplished. Here's a peek at what they do:
Unlike all the Beatles cover bands that put on Beatlemania and the like and focus on the "look" of the band, these guys are on a quest to find the real sounds. It's like they consider the Beatles to be Mozart and they're not a cover band but a philharmonic orchestra.
Finding those original sounds means buying and restoring a Mellotron and other vintage instruments, finding an Indian tabla player, playing live with cabinets with tubes and 50 year old equipment that breaks down and few people know how to repair. It's also deconstructing tapes of recordings for hours to find errors and hidden stuff that maybe casual listeners miss. The drummer, who happens to be a multimillionaire ex-chairman of Tommy Hilfiger's parent company PVH, just opens his checkbook and gets them whatever they need.
They've never played in the US and I don't know if they will. They're currently touring the White Album in Europe after having done previous tours of Magical Mystery Tour (snippets) and Sgt. Pepper's (complete). Their mission statement suggests they'll do Abbey Road in the future. They also have a number of individual songs on YT.
If I had the money and time, I'd fly to Europe to see one of these shows. I think it's amazing what they've accomplished. Here's a peek at what they do:
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