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‘Get Back!’ Maybe it's another space/time continuum, real time and Beatles Time. In Beatles Time, a band together for one decade survives nearly 50 years and a week is eight days long.
to Honolulu
Three-part Beatlemania concert
covers highlights of the
Beatles' careerHawaii has its own
Beatles tribute bandBy Burl Burlingame
Star-BulletinAnd even though the Beatles are history, they're here today, and multiplying daily.
And even though the Beatles will never perform in Hawaii, they're in concert next weekend at the Hawaii Theatre.
Kind of. Sort of. In a manner of speaking.
"Get Back!" which features performers from the Broadway and London casts of "Beatlemania," is essentially a three-part concert covering the "Ed Sullivan," "Sgt. Pepper" and "Abbey Road" periods of the Beatles' career. The show has been running for more than two decades, twice as long as the real Beatles hung out. Actors and musicians are filling the Beatle-boots of rock 'n' roll totems John, Paul, Ringo and George.
We called "Paul" -- oops, producer/star Jack Petrilla -- in Nashville, where "Get Back!" is based.
ON STAGE
What: "Get Back!"
"I'm not Paul!" he laughed. "Paul goes away when the costume comes off. If he doesn't, then I need medication! The Beatles haven't taken over every facet of my life. Not yet!"
There are Beatles "tribute" bands all over the world, including Hawaii (see B-5), second only to Elvis and "Star Trek" in sheer, galloping hordes of impersonators.
"There are a million Beatles bands, and God love them all," said Petrilla. "We are brothers and sisters in Beatles."
The guys in "Get Back!" know they're in a show, not channeling the spirits of the band.
"It has a book and everything, like a regular stage production. We can't do everything! It's a two-hour show, not a 200-hour miniseries. It doesn't take a microscope to the Beatles -- by now now people have a general preconception of the Beatles, and we do our best to live up to that preconception."
Even so, they continue to study their role models, whenever new information comes to light. The general impression of the Beatles has never been altered, Petrilla said, because they always were themselves, on stage and off.
"John was the edgy one, Paul is the more rounded one, Ringo is pretty much a fun-loving character, and George is somewhat of a recluse."
Ringo actually sat in with the lads during a show in Canada. "I think he did it on a dare," chuckled Petrilla. "But WE wanted to be the audience that night -- we were facing the wrong way! He was drumming behind us. He did 'A Hard Day's Night' and 'I Saw Her Standing There,' and he played them great, just the way he recorded them in the '60s. Of course, how would you expect him to do it? He invented those drum parts.
"We were sweating bullets. I'm not sure the audience knew that the Beatles impersonator who looked a lot like Ringo really was Ringo."
Even though the band members all performed in various editions of "Beatlemania," this is not the same show. "There are perfectly good legal and logical reasons for doing that, but the main thing is that this is a whole other story. We cover the whole career of the band. 'Beatlemania' has a life of its own and doesn't affect us at all."
As "Beatlemania" closed, he said, "We looked at each other and said, do we want to keep doing this or have to look for a job?," said Petrilla. "We picked up the instruments and have been doing it ever since. It's such a full-time job that I don't get much done around the house!"
The show is loosely scripted, a central framework as basic as a set list. "We stay in character throughout -- you'll never hear me as Jack onstage -- and we'll ad lib in character, like banter between John and Paul. The idea is to make the audience feel like they're not only at a Beatles concert that never was, but that they can interact with the band, which could never have happened."
The recent best-selling Beatles album "One" gave the show "an incredible boost -- it's practically our set list! You have to play the hits, after all."
Audience members are getting both older and younger. "Older, you'd expect," said Petrilla, who is in his 40s. "But younger? Who would figure that would happen? Kids in college are studying the Beatles to find out the roots of the music they listen to."
The Beatles are also visual icons, and the actors do their best to emulate the Beatles' body language and instrumental styles. "I'm left-handed myself, so it's natural that I'd play left-hand bass like Paul, but I also try to play it the same way he did, even hold the pick the same way Paul did."
Which is OK with Petrilla. "Because the Beatles are the reason I'm a bass player and a musician in the first place. I saw them on Ed Sullivan and made my mind up; that was what I wanted to do."
The lads go through costume changes to reflect the different eras, and also use vintage instruments. "A Rickenbacker 12-string is totally my favorite instrument, and it's hard to find. And Paul played a Hofner bass. The amplifiers are provided locally, but we ask for tube amps to get the right sound. The Beatles used only Vox amps in the early years, and Fender Twin Reverbs later. If they don't have those locally, we travel with fake Vox amplifier fronts. It's theater, man."
Petrilla said what makes it worthwhile is the good vibe that pours from the audience. "The music is fun, and means something to the folks in the seats, and we just soak up the reflected adoration."
Hawaii's ongoing Beatles tribute band is The Daytrippers, and member Jim Smart fell into it like every other musician in the world -- by falling head over heels for the Beatles' music. Hawaii has its own
Beatles tribute bandBurl Burlingame
Star-BulletinHe's a little younger than many Beatles fans, having gotten into the band after they broke up.
"While I was growing up in the '70s, all I ever bought were Beatles albums. Not disco! While everybody was listening to Styx or Journey, the Beatles were inspiring me to learn music," said Smart, a teacher at Kamehameha Schools.
Smart is the "Paul." Other members include Gerry Boulton as the "George," T.J. Theisen as the "Ringo" and David Hayter as the "John."
"David is actually English and remembers when the Beatles were big in England," said Smart. "Gerry is actually the head guy of the group. He saw a Beatles tribute band in Japan and thought it would be cool to form one here. He got lots of responses. He's not a hard-core musician per se, but he really knows his Beatles songs."
All the band members, said Smart, have "a bias toward that kind of music. And bands like the Kinks and the Who. All great. They set standards of excellence and made every song unique.
"But many bands have one real leader who sets the bar. The Beatles competed with each other in friendly collaboration, and the music became better and better because of it."
Most people never got a chance to see the real Beatles, and tribute bands like The Daytrippers are as close as they'll get to the excitement of a live performance.
"Always a chance we'll make a mistake, or play the song a little differently," said Smart cheerfully. "There's always that edge in live performing!"
They play Waikiki at least once a month, and private parties, and like every band in Hawaii, could use more gigs. The Daytrippers have a web site at http:// www.cguweb/tripper/daytrippers.htmlwhich contains musical snippets and samples of some of their own music, which, naturally, sounds "Beatle-ly," said Smart.
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