When The Rain Comes... An interview with founding member Mark Lewis.

How did Rain start?
'Rain' got it started back in 1975. I met two of the guys in a top-40 band that used to back a dance troupe called 'Dancin' Machine'. We mutually admired each other's musical and writing abilities and became good friends. When the tour ended, they asked me if I would like to help form an original band in Los Angeles that they were putting together called 'Rain'. I joined and eventually we started to play clubs and concerts all around California. We would do a set of Beatles material (because we loved the music), and then we would do a set of our own original material. Mind you at that time, the Beatles had only been split up for about 5 years. We eventually started to get a cult following of Beatles fans from all over the LA area. We would pack clubs with Beatles fans. They had never heard most of the Beatles music live. Even in those days we used to do songs such as 'A Day In The Life' and side 2 of 'Abbey Road', live. The audiences would go really nuts! At that time the other original members of 'Rain' quit to pursue other things and some of the cast members from 'Beatlemania' joined the band. That was when 'Rain' really began to take off! The band has been going for over 20 years!

We can safely say that they could well be the 'worlds longest running Beatles band'.( If you know different please lease let us know!) So how do they rate Beatles fans?
They are the best! We have some fans that have been following the band from the start, and some fans, that are so young that I am always amazed that they are familiar with The Beatles' music, but then again, they grew up with it being played around the house by their parents.

What has been the biggest audience you have played in front of?
Although our home base is the West Coast of California, we now live scattered all over the US. We travel so much now that we really don't need to live close together. We just practice while we are on the road and during set up at gigs. The largest audience that we have played in front of is about 20,000 people, when we opened for Gloria Estefan and The Miami Sound Machine.

It seems to us that 'Rain' are definitely like The Beatles - Legends!! It must take an awful lot of time putting a show like 'Rain' together. As experts - what advice can you give to the 'new' Beatles bands?
Well, technically, we always travel with our own soundman and all of the essential equipment. We change the songs in the show all the time to keep it fresh. I think that one of the keys is that we have fun with it. We have studied every note of the records and watched all the available tapes. Keep in mind that when the Beatles toured, they only played for twenty minutes - we often do two-hour shows! Nobody really knows what a Beatles concert would have been like if The Beatles had been able to tour with today's technology, or if they had toured doing live music from the Sgt Pepper album, or if they had performed for attentive rather than screaming audiences. So at a 'Rain' concert we do the early Beatles as a more strict impersonation, but once we get to the later Beatles years, we try to loosen up a little and entertain the audience as we think the Beatles would have done. The Beatles fans generally go nuts at our concerts!!

Just one last tip for anybody that is starting up a Beatles band, how long does it take for you to gain your Beatles characters?
Well I personally don't play a Beatle, for I am the keyboard player and the founder member of the group, however having witnessed the others portraying The Beatles, probably for more years than you have been alive, I can probably answer your question. You can't really gauge how long it takes to learn a Beatle. Some people can never learn it, even if they are talented musicians. It is a very specialised subject. While others who have grown up watching the Beatles, can pick it up quickly. I know that for the four guys in 'Rain', each of their characters came quite natural. They did originally study the tapes and rehearse for several months but being that they were always huge Beatles fans the tapes just helped them fine-tune their characters.

Just before we close this fascinating interview, there must have been many highlights during 'Rain's' career out on the road. Are there any that you can pick out for us, which remain memorable to you?
There have been many and they still do occur all the time. I would say one of the most magical moments was, when we stepped on a rooftop in Seattle and performed The Beatles entire rooftop concert live in front of TV cameras and live radio simulcast. We wound up making it on to CNN's headline news where they showed excerpts of our performance all day long. That was pretty exciting!

Jo Rishton
TWIL Issue One July 2000