Tag: Let it Be

Entertainment

REVIEW: Let it Be @ The Opera House, Manchester

Peppers 1-3224 (Photo Paul Coltas)I know Let it Be, which celebrates the incredible music of the Beatles, has a strong and loyal following, but when it was last in Manchester I wasn’t overly impressed.

So it was a very pleasant surprise to see the show return with a much improved production, giving a very appreciative audience a glimpse of what might have been had the fab four got back together.

This revamped production which closes its UK and Ireland tour at the Opera House this week is brimming with energy which has the audience calling for more.

Act One takes audiences through the early days of the band as they embarked on their musical journey and onwards to the heights of Beatlemania. We see the historic Royal Variety Performance,  Shea Stadium concert when the band broke America, the iconic Sergeant Pepper period and their famous final public performance on the roof of the Apple building.

But a brand new Act Two slips the audience into a parallel universe where the band put their differences aside after the  break-up for a reunion concert to celebrate John Lennon’s 40th birthday in October 1980, just a couple of months before the star’s untimely death.

Abbey 1-5615 (Photo Paul Coltas)It is the ultimate concert that never was, giving audiences a chance to experience what it would have been like to hear Beatles songs that were never performed in public as well as the hits by John, Paul, George and Ringo, such as Band on the Run, Live and Let Die, My Sweet Lord, Starting Over and Imagine.

The Let It Be cast –  Michael Gagliano from Woking (John Lennon); Emanuele Angeletti from Italy (Paul McCartney); Irish/AustralianJohn Brosnan (George Harrison); and Ben Cullingworth, from Market Harborough in Leicestershire (Ringo Starr) –  did the songs justice with some outstanding performance.

Vocals were on-point. There was  some expert instrumental work, with Brosnan’s guitar solo in My Guitar Gently Weeps providing the biggest highlight.

And the biggest ring of endorsement must surely come from the crowd who lapped it all up, singing and dancing to those timeless classics

Runs till Saturday October 27

 

Entertainment

REVIEW: Let It Be @Opera House, Manchester

image003There’s a blast from the past at the Opera House this week as the music of legends of pop, the Beatles, is celebrated in a hit-packed show.

The  show charts The Beatles’ meteoric rise from their humble beginnings in Liverpool’s Cavern Club, through the height of Beatlemania, to their later studio masterpieces. Four boys from Liverpool who went on to change the world.

If you’re a Beatles fan and expecting a decent performance from a good tribute band paying homage to those timeless classics, you will be satisfied.

But if you want a  more than that and a strong narrative which tells the story of the Fab Four you will be disappointed. I fall into the latter category and after seeing the imagination put into the staging and presentation of productions like Thriller Live, this show seemed a little flat for me.

That said, there were plenty of people in the first night audience who lapped it up and there is no doubt that the performers are very accomplished musicians providing some superb renditions of those now legendary tunes.

Paul Mannion’s guitar solo in While My Guitar Gently Weeps stood out as a highlight of the show and the magnificent effects in Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds was another show-stopper.

It’s worth a trip if  you know what to expect. The show is basically a  concert with some bells and whistles.

Runs till Saturday March 5.

By Dave Toomer