The Rolling Stones. Used to be one of the coolest bands in the world. Now? Well, lets face it. They're a bit past it. The Beatles, of course, don't have the choice of whether to embarrass themselves slogging it out on world tours, even if they wanted to. So, welcome to The Bootleg Beatles, who can do it instead. And sell out huge, grand venues in the process. But is it worth paying to see?
The show starts with a brief audio/visual collage of the 60's to set the scene. The Kennedy assassination, James Bond, mods on scooters, Muhammed Ali. Then The Bootleg Beatles emerge to a rapturous response, and bang! We're straight back to 1963. Well, almost. They run through 'I Saw Her Standing There', 'All My Loving' and 'A Hard Day's Night'.
They've got all those little details that Beatles aficionados will be looking out for (bar some minor improvisations on the guitar solos); Ringo's slightly shaky head, George's cute little foot shuffle. And, crucially, all their speaking voices. From high up in the gallery, looking down on the scene, gives the overall impression of being an observer on the past, rather than an audience at a gig. It's quite a strange sensation.
Off they go for a very quick costume change into Help! costumes and we're off to '65. The song 'Help!' itself reminds us of what fantastic, and lyrically astute songs The Beatles wrote (for those that need reminding!). 'Yesterday' sees solo 'Paul' and a string quartet on stage. There's something quite melancholy about a huge crowd of people singing the words "now I long for yesterday". You get the feeling that they really do. We're blasted into the future when 'John' gives a quick blast of 'Wonderwall', saying, "just getting me own back"!
Such humour is apparent throughout the show, and you can't help but be carried along with the ride. Another treat is Lennon's superb 'Hey! You've Got To Hide Your Love Away', from the Lennon/Dylan mutual appreciation era. Before a bombastic 'Got To Get You Into My Life', 'Lennon' quips, "after this next song there's going to be a quick interval. Of about 12 months: whilst we go and take some smarties!"
The second half zooms by. A wonderful selection of songs from the 'Sgt Pepper' album, including 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds', which provides us with another surreal moment seeing fiftysomethings sing along to a song which many say is an ode to LSD (though John always attested that it was about a picture his son Julian had drawn). It is amazing merely to see songs such as 'Penny Lane' and 'Strawberry Fields Forever' performed competently at all, let alone with passion and understanding. 'A Day In The Life' is astounding, as by now we have the full 9-piece orchestra on stage, and it's as near as can be expected to the original. 'Hey Jude' provides an opportunity for a massive singalong, and 'George' steps up for a touching 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'.
An inevitable (and welcome) encore later, and the show is over. It is debateable whether John Lennon himself would've appreciated this carry on, and it is a shame we'll never know his take on the whole thing. One thing is for sure: it would be huge cultural loss should songs like these be lost from the nation's consciousness. And if this is how we're going to keep them alive, I can't think of a more enjoyable or moving way to do it.
