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Southern California’s own The Fab Four put on a an incredible show Friday night in Anaheim’s Sun Theatre. The show, billed as an “all fan request night” saw the boys offering up an eclectic array of album tracks and obscurities as chosen by the fans. Even though the show was nearly completely bereft of the “hits” that made The Beatles famous, none who were in the house left disappointed, having been rocked by renditions of gems like “Boys,” “And You Bird Can Sing,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Hey Bulldog” and “I’ve Got A Feeling” as well as wooed by exquisite numbers such as “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away,” “Michelle,” “Dear Prudence” and “Don’t Let Me Down.” The Fabs also threw in two McCartney solo tracks, “Maybe I’m Amazed” and “Coming Up,” which they had debuted in their recent “McCartney Birthday Bash” at the House of Blues.
The first surprise of the evening was when Ed Sullivan – as portrayed by Jerry Hoban - appeared on the stage to introduce the “young lads from Liverpool.” Hoban, most famous for portraying Sullivan in the feature film “Pulp Fiction,” also introduces the boys when they perform in Las Vegas as part of the “Really Big Shew.” Sullivan’s presence at Friday night’s show lent a breathtaking air of nostalgia to the nights’ festivities, and made the show all the more unforgettable.
The Fabs’ strategy for the evening seemed to be to open each set with one or two more well known and oft-performed numbers, and then dive headlong into the album tracks and b-sides. After opening the first set with the somewhat pedestrian hits “I Saw Her Standing There” and “She Loves You,” Paul – played by Ardy Sarraf – announced that this was an “all request night” and asked if the audience was ready to hear some great album tracks. The response was enthusiastic as they mentioned that this next song would be from the first album “Please Please Me,” as John – Ron McNeil – futzed with a harmonica. It was at this point that I was desperately hoping it would be “There’s A Place” – one of my requests – and sure enough it was. The dour melody and lyrics and exquisite harmonies make this one of the Beatles’ most compelling early tracks. Ron acted surprised as he introduced “A Hard Day’s Night” as “one we’ve gotten a lot of requests for,” as it’s a song they play in almost every show. But this led into three stellar obscurities from the LP of the same name – “You Can’t Do That,” “I’m Happy Just To Dance With You” and “Anytime At All.” Then Ringo – Rolo Sandoval – got to perform what is probably his most beloved number at Fab Four shows, the rollicking “Boys.” The sheer intensity of the instrumentation (particularly Rolo’s fierce drumming) always brings down the house. Next up was the seldom performed “We Can Work It Out,” followed by a real rarity from “Help!”: John’s “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away.” Ron did a great rendition of this one, inviting the audience to sing along loudly with the “hey”s, to which the audience gladly obliged.
Next up was one of the absolute highlights of the entire evening, Paul’s “Michelle.” Personally, the song has never been one of my top favorites, but as the gentle strains of the guitar intro started up, and the backing “ooh”s kicked in, I was profoundly affected (almost brought to tears, actually). I found myself watching Paul – Ardy Sarraf – intently, as he put in a very heartfelt performance. The band settled into the mellow groove and was in top form, doing justice to the song’s beautiful subtlety…one of those surreal moments where if one looked away from the stage they’d think they were listening to the album.
“You all know ‘Eight Days A Week’?” asked Ron. “Well this one was the flipside of that over here or something.” The band then launched into the obscure “Beatles For Sale” track “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party,” a slice of dour rockabilly. Next up was a great “Help!” album track which they had recently dusted off for the “McCartney Birthday Bash” show: “The Night Before,” which features Ron playing the Hammond organ parts on his keyboard. The set was concluded with the ever-rousing “Twist And Shout,” which had the entire house going crazy. At the conclusion of the first set, Jerry Hoban as Ed Sullivan came back out to see the band off and prepare the audience for the short break. He reappeared sporadically throughout the evening.
The second set began in the customary fashion, with the two rousing lead-off numbers from the “Sgt. Pepper…” album (“Sgt. Pepper…” and “With A Little Help From My Friends”), but after this Ardy announced “we’re gonna continue the album now” and the band launched into “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.” This is where the highly psychedelic lighting kicked in, which was illuminated on the backdrop behind the boys. After this they went into one of their most requested songs, the obscure “And Your Bird Can Sing,” off the “Revolver” album. This song is known for its strident guitar work, which was originally done by both George and John, but is pulled off by George - Michael Amador - alone. Thrilling three part harmonies also make this a standout in the Fabs’ sets. Next up was “Eleanor Rigby,” with string parts played by Ron on a keyboard. A highlight is always when Rolo emerges from behind his drumkit to help Ron out at the keyboard by playing one solitary note. This always gets a mixed reaction of applause and laughter from the crowd.
After this, the boys talked a bit about how the next number was one they don’t normally do, from the “Yellow Submarine” soundtrack. As Ron strapped on a harmonica and picked up his acoustic guitar, it was clear it was going to be the definitive sing-along “All Together Now.” This most simplest of songs also merited one of the strongest reactions from the crowd all night, who had a great time singing the answering vocals in the chorus and bridge. (The tempo change throughout the song was a bit dodgy, though…the band could have increased a bit more). Up next was another number from “Yellow Submarine” which many had lobbied hard for (your truly included), the raucous “Hey Bulldog,” which always ends with Ron and Ardy improvising very nicely, as Ron’s barking cascades into maniacal laughter. Bizarrely, the next song was “Day Tripper,” which is performed at nearly every Fab show (right after “With A Little Help From My Friends”), but always seems to be a crowd pleaser. The set then ended with the “Sgt. Pepper” reprise and the always fantastic and awe-inspiring “A Day In The Life.” Fifty some odd shows later, I still marvel at how the band pulls off “A Day In The Life” on stage, replete with orchestral crescendos.
The third set traditionally opens with “Get Back,” but this time began with the rocking “white album” opener “Back In The U.S.S.R.,” one of the highlights of which is the jet engine noises that Ron supplies throughout the song on his keyboard. As soon as this was finished and the audience began cheering and applauding, Ron quickly ran back to his amp and fiddled with something. As he turned around, I could see his left hand was high up on the neck, which could mean only one thing…they were dovetailing into “Dear Prudence,” which is exactly how it is heard on the “white album.” Needless to say, “Prudence” was one of the absolutely highlights of the evening (another number which nearly brought me to tears). Everyone stood in reverential awe and polite silence as the band delivered the number perfectly, from the gently hypnotic guitar notes, to Ron’s simple, moving lead vocals, to the clicking, thudding bass. As Ron began the plucked guitar outro, which directly echoes the intro, the audience erupted. A very moving performance.
After this, the festivities were brought into high gear again with the piece of Macca reggae “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” which always manages to get at least some folks in the crowd to form a conga line. As if this set hadn’t been enough of a treat already, the band introduces their manager Jerry Peluso to play some additional guitar on the next number. Having seen them do this at the House of Blues, I knew what was next…the exquisite “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” which highlights the talents of Michael and never fails to bring down the house. (It was at this point that I was beginning to wonder if they were going to play the entire “white album,” which, I must admit, would have been fine with me). Michael’s solo is always something to behold. He begins with direct quotations from the original Beatles recording, and then eventually begins adding parts of his own, until the solo builds upon itself, is taken off into a whole new direction and extends well beyond the duration of the original. By the time Michael was finished, the crowd went wild, many of whom opted to give him a standing ovation (the only such occurrence of the evening, mind you). It was definitely the benchmark performance of the evening.
“Here’s one from the ‘Let It Be’ album” announced Ardy, but he was quickly corrected by Ron. The band continued their relentless onslaught of killer material by launching into the exquisite Lennon screamer “Don’t Let Me Down,” one of the highlights of which was Ron’s exaggerated “she done me good” lines, which got a great reaction from the crowd. After this they went into another number that was played on the legendary rooftop performance of January 1969 – and a real surprise – the fantastic Paul rocker “I’ve Got A Feeling” (which I had never heard the band play before). The real highlight of this is how Paul and John traded off vocals lines, coming together at the end to sing the lines over one another, which was carried off to great effect by Ardy and Ron. After this was the playful “Octopus’ Garden,” which is dubbed by Ardy as “‘Yellow Submarine’ part 2.” One of the crowning moments of this number is when Ron and Ardy emulate the underwater “ah”s without the aid of electronic effects.
Next was yet another highlight, McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed,” which the band had debuted at the House of Blues for the “McCartney Birthday Bash.” The intensity of the band and amazing vocal acrobatics of Ardy are always astounding. Unfortunately, this number was interrupted by a rowdy fan who took it upon himself to jump on stage and begin rocking out with the band. It was clear that Ardy was taken aback when the fan put his arms over Ardy’s shoulders and mimed playing the piano. Similarly, when he approached Ron, Ron attempted to ignore him by getting close to his mic and singing a part that wasn’t even really in the song. It was a shame that such a heartfelt and rare performance of such a beautiful number was interrupted, and quite surprising that it took security so long to get the fan off the stage (I submit a big collective *ahem* in the direction of the Sun Theatre’s employees). The fantastic set came to a close with the exhortative “Revolution,” which always brings the house down with its raw power. The Fabs then took a bow and bid the audience goodnight.
After a short interim of the crowd cheering for more, the band re-emerged with a real surprise, the fantastic McCartney anthem “Coming Up” (based on the rocking “Live at Glasgow” version) which had also debuted at the “McCartney Birthday Bash.” The letter-perfect performances put on by all four band members in this song are truly amazing, particularly Ron’s stellar keyboard work. At the very end, Jerry Hoban re-emerged as Ed Sullivan, wearing a ridiculously unkempt Beatle wig, making him resemble a nightmarish King Kong. He then introduced the band one by one and they exited, capping off a fantastic night of great music for diehard Beatles fans. After that the band was off for good, which resulted in thunderous ovations from the Sun crowd and brought many to their feet.
The Sun show was a very rare occurrence, aimed more at tremendously faithful Beatles fans, rather than at the more casual fans or those interested solely in the more popular numbers. And yet there was something for everyone to enjoy, as the band did throw in a few more well known concessions here and there. The precision and intensity put in by the band, as well as the sheer breadth and variety of material covered made this an incredible show not to be forgotten, equaling or perhaps even bettering the Fab Four’s similar performances at the House of Blues this year.
This article originally
appeared on The Fab Four 2000 (www.tff2k.com). It is reprinted
by kind permission.
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