ASHLAND — Every voice in the balcony responded to the song “Yesterday” Thursday evening as “Rain — A Tribute to the Beatles” performed at the Paramount Arts Center.
“I didn’t get to see them when I was growing up in the ’60s. Now that I am in my 60s, I’m thrilled to be able to see them,” said Nancy Heffernan of Huntington as she waited for the lights to dim, and a chance to hear the band perform “Hey Jude.”
Larry Tweel, one of a group of six who came from Huntington to see the show, said everyone in their group — Cheryl Tweel, Don and Becky Ray, as well as Dan and Debbie Egnor — were raised with the music of the Beatles as a soundtrack for much of their lives.
“We’re all in our 60s now,” said Tweel, laughing as he declined to specify their ages and immediately identifying “Yesterday” as the song he most wanted to hear that evening.
The audience included a surprising number of younger fans whose parents were likely teens when the Beatles exploded on the American music scene in 1964. Jerrod Litteral and girlfriend Julie Moore, both of Ashland, were two of the younger fans Thursday.
“I really enjoy the Beatles music and her dad bought us tickets for Valentine’s Day,” Litteral said, later adding he hoped to hear the band play “Eleanor Rigby” and surprisingly “The Ballad of John and Yoko.”
Matt and Brenda Deborde of Grayson, self-described as “huge” fans of the Beatles, shook their heads while pondering the songs they hoped to hear.
“How do you pick?” he said, before he answered “Eleanor Rigby,” and she said, “Baby You Can Drive My Car.”
The capacity crowd was captivated by every note from Rain, starting with a stage-set simulating the original band’s appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and an energized rendition of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” before launching into “All My Loving” and “This Boy.”
Practically every pair of hands in the audience clapped in unison as the band rolled on with classics including “I Saw Her Standing There,” and “A Hard Day’s Night,” and “Day Tripper,” accentuated with footage from the band’s famous concert at Shea Stadium.
With very little encouragement, audience members stood and danced in the aisles as the band ripped a note-for-note rendition of “Twist and Shout.” Members of Rain continued to keep the crowd entertained as they changed sets, costumes and instruments to track the band’s evolution from the mop top days to the psychedelia of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and the final days of “Abbey Road.”
As the crowd found its seats before the first act, members of Rain, along with a massive technical crew, attended to last minute details including a search for mustache adhesive. When asked about the most challenging aspect of paying tribute to one of the world’s most recognized and revered rock bands, band members quickly agreed on the answer, “The long overnight bus rides!”
TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2651.
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