The Bootleg Beatles at the Music Hall, Aberdeen

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A review from 5D Music & Theatre writer Maria Robertson.

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A return to the Granite City for the Fabulous Four (here’s my review from last time: https://5d-blog.com/the-bootleg-beatles-at-music-hall-aberdeen-review).

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As with last time, this year’s show is a chronological journey of the Beatles through the 60s and 70s.  It starts with cinema clips back in 1963 when their career began to set the scene and they come out in outfits of the era and sing the early songs.  The musicians dress, talk, play and act like they really are the Beatles, with the occasional comment to let you know they know they really aren’t  – like mentioning that a song will be a huge hit for Oasis, a tribute band.  Very cleverly scripted into the show!

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When they sang Love Me Do, they said it was only a few months old so we would not know it yet, but we should feel free to sing along “when you get the hang of it”.  All said with a cheeky knowing smile by “Paul”.  They also said we were welcome to take photos – not something that would have happened at gigs in the 60s but nice to have permission to capture our own wee mementos of the evening.

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They played Do You Want To Know a Secret, introducing it as a song that Billy J Kramer would have a hit with, but he does not know it yet as its a secret.  Cheesy, or funny?  Part of the act and part of the fun of the Bootlegs, it was like we were in on all the jokes from our viewpoint in the future.

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More TV clips including Andy Pandy and a Snap, Crackle and Pop Rice Crispies advert covered a costume change and reminded us of where we were on the time line of the Beatles.  Girls started screaming and the band returned to the stage in sharp grey suits and sang She Loves You.

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The next illusion was when they thanked us Americans for buying their new single and making them a hit in our country, which was I Want To Hold Your Hand, they then flipped the record over to John’s B side and sang This Boy.  There were a few references to John writing B sides and Paul writing the A sides throughout the evening.

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They did a song that Paul and John wrote for some new band called the Rolling Stones, who “won’t last”: I Wanna Be Your Man.  When we got to Money Can’t Buy Me Love we were assured it was better on our feet so we could dance, much to the glee of many audience members, and it was followed by Twist and Shout – which of course we could not have sat through!

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Clips to cover the next costume change (and hair growth as we approached the end of the 60s) included clips of Carnaby Street accompanied by The Kinks’ Dedicated Follower of Fashion and The Troggs Wild Thing.  This is a personal favourite, my Mum was at their first gig in the Copper Kettle and I managed to see them in concert 3 times (once with Mum) before Reg Presley left us.

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This time the band came back in full psychedelic colours and we had Paul’s Paperback Writer followed by John’s B side Tax Man.  There was then an interval – the band’s break of a year and we came back to 1967 with the classic hits Magical Mystery Tour, Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, and Yellow Submarine (which my son had been disappointed was missed out in last year’s tour).  They then introduced a song as written with the back drop of the Vietnam war but just as relevant today: All You Need is Love.  George aka Steven Hill disappeared during this song and then came back in double demin as the others left the stage and did a moving tribute to “past George” Andre Barreau who was a founder of Bootleg Beatles and passed away earlier this year.  Steven spoke of watching Andre perform as George and wanting to be like him but never imagining he would get to become George in the Bootlegs.  He then sang, the very fitting, While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

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There were then more clips of the era, accompanied by Marvin Gaye’s Heard It Through the Grapevine and Arthur Brown’s Fire.  This is another favourite of mine having been a 7″ my Dad let me steal from his collection, again I’ve managed to see it performed live myself more recently.  This time we were treated to Revolution and Here Comes the Sun before Paul introduced their last song before breaking up: Let It Be.

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They did come back for an encore and said that we were the last night of the very long tour so they had a special treat for us.  They started playing You Take The High Road, I believe as a joke, but everyone was singing along enthusiastically so it went on for a while before they gave us the much more appropriate Hey Jude.

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It was a really enjoyable night, a fabulous retelling of the Beatles story – and yet totally different than last year’s set list.  Being in a tribute band often seems like an easy option as you already have the hit songs and the dedicated fanbase, but to take it to this level takes dedication and effort.  I look forward to their next tour!

Further information: https://bootlegbeatles.com/

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Maria Robertson is the Chief Music & Theatre Writer for the 5D Pop Culture Website and provides reviews & coverage of local Aberdeen music & theatre gigs. She’s an experienced writer for numerous sources and is a self-confessed live gig addict ever since seeing The Counting Crows at the Barrowlands in 1994.

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