On Sunday, March 16, Rain, a Broadway-produced cover band for The Beatles, visited the Meymandi Concert Hall in downtown Raleigh. Rain is not your typical cover band though. In a quote from a review by Houston Arts Week, “[Rain] is a chance for us to grab hold of human history, including our own lives, and rewrite it all with a happy ending.”
In addition to performing some of The Beatles’ greatest hits, Rain took their tribute a step further by incorporating realistic costumes in an attempt to actually “become” each member of the legendary band: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison. This allowed the fans to enjoy an authentic trip through The Beatles’ different eras.
Once it hit 3:00 PM, Rain immediately began the show. The members jumped right into their first cover, “She Loves You,” wearing matching black suits, similar to what The Beatles wore when they first appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964.
Following “She Loves You,” Rain performed other tracks from The Beatles’ beginnings, like “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “A Hard Day’s Night.” Accompanying the songs were simple digital visuals that helped set the 1960’s scene for the audience.
The next era the band covered was The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper” era, named after The Beatles’ 8th studio album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Sgt. Pepper’s was different from anything The Beatles had ever done before, making it a milestone in their career. Fans recognize the Sgt. Pepper’s era by the silly, colorful costumes The Beatles wore in the original album artwork. These same costumes inspired the costumes Rain wore during this part of the show. Rain performed tracks from Sgt. Pepper’s like “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and “When I’m 64,” both set to trippy, psychedelic visuals. Rain’s take on The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper era was one of the best parts of the show because of how colorful and exciting it was.
Rain also went on to cover two other eras, the “Abbey Road” era and the “Hippie” era, when The Beatles really pushed for peace and equality. They performed songs that corresponded with each, like “Come Together” and “Let it Be.” Again, the costumes Rain used for both time periods were very believable. Their accuracy was impressive.
Overall, the tribute concert was a fantastic success. In addition to the great costumes, vocals, visuals and an incredibly thorough setlist, the four members of Rain seemed to be having an absolute blast. They gave off such wonderful energy and were even able to get the audience up and dancing on their feet! It was really enjoyable to see all of the die-hard fans reliving some of their fondest memories with a near-accurate Beatles concert experience. For Beatles fans young and old, Rain is definitely a tribute band worth seeing.
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