Apple Scruffs
BB's, 13/12/03
Paul McCartney John Lennon George Harrison Ringo Starr The Beatles Tribute Bands Other

The Bootleg Beatles certainly dont do things by halves.

The show opens with the early music of The Beatles; the Crowd Pleasers - I Want To Hold Your Hand, She Loves You, I Feel Fine, etc. The show as a whole is very elaborate - there are many set and costume changes.

Neil Harrison as John put on a fine performance of I Feel Fine, and even did a brilliant impersonation of John when he went into "spastic" mode. The band then gave a cheeky nod to the worst Beatle-wannabes around, Oasis, and sang a few bars from Don't Look Back In Anger.

The 'early' music was quickly over and the band went off stage. A video screen was dropped down which played clips of the 1966 world cup, John F Kennedy, and various TV adverts of the time. The Bootlegs then reappeared in full Sgt. Pepper get-up, and the UV lights made them glow. Eleanor Rigby, which I'd never heard live before, was aided by the quartet of strings. All You Need Is Love seemed almost inevitable, and "John" took to the piano. Then came A Day In The Life. This was one of the highlights of the whole show. With the assistance of the orchestra, the noise during the chord build up in the middle and at the end was phenomenal.

The final era was Apple. The Bootlegs left the stage and the orchestra played The Long And Winding Road, and the crowd sang softly along with them. When the band reappeared, they were wearing the same style clothes as The Beatles did on the Abbey Road cover. "George" informed the crowd that they had originally planned for Eric Clapton to guest for his guitar solo on While My Guitar...., but then he was politely turned away when "I found out he was shagging my wife".

Another new addition to the set was Something. This was tackled well, and with respect. George received applause after the middle guitar solo.

The Golden Slumbers medley was exceptional; the new Bootleg Ringo did probably the best version of the drum solo in The End that I've ever heard.

Inevitably, the show came to an (pre-encore) end, and the band performed Hey Jude. It lasted for about 10 minutes, and the crowd never grew tired of singing along.

The band left the stage and the crowd cheered continuously. "John" returned by himself and performed Imagine on the piano accompanied by the orchestra. The rest of the band then joined him and they performed Revolution, ending with Twist and Shout.

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