Grab a ticket to ride for Bootleg Beatles when they play Symphony Hall Birmingham
When they started out, everyone thought they were daft. The Bootleg Beatles were the original tribute band, a gang of musos who dressed up as John, Paul, Ringo and George to pay tribute to the world’s most successful band.
Nobody imagined it would last. And nobody imagine that they’d be bigger than ever 36 years on.
More than 4,000 gigs after they made their first appearance at a small student gathering in Tiverton, Devon; having spawned a tribute band industry and played for the Queen and having shared stages with Rod Stewart, Bon Jovi, David Bowie, The Corrs, Manic Street Preachers and Iggy Pop, The Bootleg Beatles are back.
They’ll bring the Fab Four’s hits to Birmingham’s Symphony Hall tonight as part of a huge UK tour.
The band, along with their renowned string and brass ensemble, are visiting 15 cities to celebrate The Beatles.
“We’re thrilled to be playing again,” says Steve White, aka Paul McCartney, who will line up with fellow members Adam Hastings, Stephen Hill and Gordon Elsmore.
Since their inception in 1980 the band have performed hundreds of gigs across the globe, earning themselves an amazing reputation along the way. The late George Martin himself described the Bootleg Beatles experience as ‘a terrific show’, while the Mail On Sunday hailed their ‘mind-boggling accuracy’.
This year the band performed a run of special Sgt. Pepper 50th anniversary shows – including one at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra – which have been raved about by the critics. The December dates will feature an extended Sgt. Pepper section to further celebrate the iconic album.
This year, The Times gave the band a five star live review, adding: “Even The Beatles would have struggled to recreate Sgt Pepper this well in live performance.” The Bootleg Beatles also performed twice at this year’s Glastonbury Festival, including a Sgt. Pepper show on the iconic Pyramid Stage.
Formed from the original cast of London’s West End hit show Beatlemania, The Bootleg Beatles have become an institution in their own right with their note-perfect recreation of hits from every era of the world’s most famous songbook.
Every tiny detail is meticulously covered from costumes to authentic period instruments; from the ‘Liverpudlian’ banter to their ‘inflection perfect’ vocal mimicry. But it’s not only their sound that is so authentic; they bear an uncanny resemblance to the Fab Four. As one reviewer recently said . . . “It’s not John Paul George and Ringo . . . but you simply won’t believe it”.
Steve says: “When the band started, it was very much unchartered waters. It was something that was unknown and it was a gamble for the guys that started the band. They thought they’d just give it six months and see how it went. It’s still going strong.
“But these last couple of years in particular, we’ve seen a huge hike in ticket sales and attendances. It’s great.
“It’s pretty much full time for us on the road. It’s so demanding. It’s impossible to hold anything else down. We’ve only just got back from Australia, Malaysia and Hong Kong and we were out there for a month.”
The four band members are, of course, all huge fans of the originals. Steve says they wouldn’t be able to do their job wholeheartedly if they weren’t. “I think you’ve got to be into the stuff to apply yourself fully. I don’t feel you could if you weren’t. You couldn’t fake it.” The band members are constantly looking at outtakes and new demos that emerge to learn new tricks.
“That sort of thing can be a little jewel. They can show you something that you wouldn’t necessarily know. They can give away little secrets.”
With such an extraordinary back catalogue, all four Bootleggers find it difficult to pick a favourite song. “Favourite songs? Oh gosh. I love so many of them. When I’m put on the spot, I say Ticket To Ride, for the simple reason that it was the start of things to come. It was quite rocky compared to other stuff before it and unique to everything before.
“That was what to come with Rubber Soul and Revolver. In terms of a favourite album, well, I love all the albums. Again though I would probably say my favourite would be Abbey Road, even though it’s quite a sombre album. The production on that is fantastic.”
With 36 years behind them, there’s never been a better time for fans to immerse themselves in the magic of the Bootleg Beatles.
