‘Shake it up, baby, now'

From The Call
Joseph B. Nadeau, Staff writer :: 17/1/04

WOONSOCKET -- No, the Beatles never played the Stadium Theatre.

But as the song "I Want To Hold Your Hand" filled the restored movie house Friday night, you could easily imagine what it might have been like if they had.

The old Beatles hit was performed flawlessly by members of 1964 The Tribute as their show opener, and had many in the audience thinking back to the Fab Four’s 1964 arrival in the U.S.

And then they followed the opener with the B-side of the original Beatles 45, "I Saw Her Standing There."

It was just the kind of feeling the majority of those in attendance had been seeking when they purchased tickets for the performance, some a year ago following the tribute band’s last visit to Woonsocket. Friday’s night performance, attended by about 700 people, was sponsored by The Call. A second show is slated for 8 p.m. Saturday, with tickets available at the door.

"It’s a great show. I’ve been a couple of times and I wanted to bring my teenagers," Pat Leclair of Narragansett said as she waited for the concert to start.

Her teenagers included her son, Matt, 15, and his friends, Lauren, 15, and Mike, 16.

The teens wouldn’t remember the Beatles’ Feb. 9, 1964, appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, but Leclair, who described herself as "over 50," certainly did.

And as a veteran of other Stadium shows, Leclair said she knew there really wouldn’t be a bad spot in the 1,200-seat venue to watch the show.

"It’s great here even if you sit upstairs in the balcony," she said.

Matt said he enjoys Beatles songs, even if the real band became famous and ended their run long before he was born.

"My favorite song is ‘A Hard Days Night,’" the teenager said picking the Beatles classic that became the title of the Liverpool band’s first movie.

His mom said her favorite was "Eleanor Rigby" and Lauren picked "Let it Be," a song from the Beatles last album together.

"1964, The Tribute" sticks to the Beatles earlier works and, for the most part, the band performs songs someone might have heard going to a concert during the real Beatles 1964, 1965 and 1966 U.S. tours.

During a break in Friday’s performance, Mark Benson, who performs as John Lennon, said the band, based in Akron, Ohio, tries to present a show that captures exactly what someone may have experienced during an actual Beatles concert of the 1960s.

"I love these kind of venues, especially the restored movie houses like the Stadium, because it’s the kind of place they would have played in for their early concerts," Benson said.

"When you see them playing in their films, the theaters they are playing in look just like this," he said.

The tribute group’s act features mop-top hair cuts, narrow neckties and black suits. The stage has few props beyond the small black riser holding the drum set played by Greg George as Ringo Starr. And Benson, Jimmy Pou as George Harrison and Gary Grimes as Paul McCartney, all play instruments the real Beatles would have played.

Best of all is the music, which the group has honed to perfection during 150 concert dates a year, some comfortably small like the Stadium and others large with thousands attending. The group has been together for 20 years and does nothing but tour as the Beatles.

"I think it’s guided, and I think it’s some of the best music on the planet," Benson said of playing old Beatles hits.

He admits its hard to pick a particular favorite when you are playing a whole set list of classics, but if he had to he might pick a B-side of a 45 like "Yes It Is."

"They are all great," Benson said before rejoining his mates for the second act. Pam Rizzo of Woonsocket led her sons, Benjamin, 5, and Nicholas, 7, back to their seats as the concert resumed with the band playing "Paperback Writer."

"I love this, it’s the second time we’ve seen them," Rizzo, 39, said.

While she actually hadn’t liked the Beatles initially, Rizzo said her husband, John, made sure she and the rest of the family did become fans.

Now she and the kids play the old songs at home and she even likes to dance to the music.

"My husband wouldn’t have it any other way," Rizzo said of John’s longtime love of the Beatles.

"He’s the youngest of six children and they’re all into music and they all love the Beatles," she said.

Also in the audience was School Committee Chairman John F. Ward, who had liked last year’s performance of the group so much that he and family members bought this year’s tickets as the 2003 performance ended.

"It’s an excellent show. They are the best," said Ward, who prefers the Beatles earlier music. "I have the ‘The Beatles 1’ album on my computer at work and I listen to that while I’m working."

Deputy Chief of Police Michael L.A. Houle was in the audience, one of the few times he’s gone as a patron of a Stadium event and not a detail officer.

"I was brought up with the Beatles, I love it," Houle said.

Even Stadium volunteers said they were having fun working Friday night’s show.

"I think they play the music very well," said Lorraine Provencher, a head usher, as she watched the group from the aisle.

The audience appeared to love the group, she said. "Some have already asked me if we are selling tickets for next year and I said we are," Provencher said.

While the 57-year-old Provencher clearly remembers the Beatles arrival in New York in 1964, she also remembers being torn between the new arrivals and her longtime loves, Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison.

"I was just graduated from high school and I liked the Beatles, they were my band, but I was also a big Elvis fan," she said.

Because of their sparse set and the desire for authenticity, Dennis Tancrell, 45, of Woonsocket, handling the show’s lighting, said he really didn’t have much to do but watch the performance.

"Not tonight. They wanted everything simple, just like the 1960s," Tancrell said.

For Pat Monfette, 48, of Woonsocket, who went to the show with her mother-in-law, Lucille, 76, "1964, The Tribute" was good enough to bring back the old days, and then some.

"I went to Boston to see them and I was here when they played last time. They look and sound just like them. It’s totally incredible," Monfette said.

Lucille agreed. "It brings you back. Oh my God it does, absolutely."