Revolver

Date and Venue 27 March 2010 @ 8pm Massey Theatre, New Westminster

Reviewer Roger Wayne Eberle

The music of the Beatles remains influential, original and dynamic even today after four decades since their breakup. Perhaps the closest you’ll ever get to reliving a little of the intense excitement that surrounded this popular musical group is a good tribute band. Revolver is far and away one of the best Beatles tribute bands currently performing.

Revolver is comprised of Michael Sicoly, who performs as Paul McArtney; Mick Dalla-Vee, who takes the stage as John Lennon; Skip Prest, who riffs on as George Harrison; and Rocket Norton, keeping the beat as Ringo Starr. These seasoned veterans in the music industry have been performing professionally since the sixties and seventies, and each has an impressive musical CV. But together they do an incredibly impressive job of transforming themselves into the Fab Four from Liverpool.

Starting with early albums like Please Please Me, Revolver work their way through the sixties songs and protest songs, such as Revolution, psychedelic tunes like Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, and John Lennon’s famous Ballad of John and Yoko right up to A Day in the Life, Hey Jude, and that famous opening song from Abbey Road, Come Together.

Revolver has got the chops and the energy and the commitment to please the audience by pulling off huge Beatles sights and sounds. They also provide historical information about the Beatles that is augmented by a movie theatre sized screen of images from the era in which this band came to such widespread public acclaim.

They know how to have fun with the crowd, too. During the Sergeant Pepper segment, Skip’s colourful orange pants fell down around his ankles, but he kept picking his lead guitar as if nothing had happened, until the end of the song (he did have jeans on underneath). At this point, Michael pipes up and says, “We usually have to wait for George to change his guitar, but now…” You just never know when a wardrobe malfunction is going to throw a curve ball your way.

Saturday night’s performance was very well received by the audience. Many sang along, most clapped energetically, and there were more than a few raucous fans, shouting out enthusiastic praise.

Aside from a few younger patrons who also seemed to be enjoying the show, most of the audience looked like they could have been around during the Beatle’s heyday. In fact, I spoke with one woman who said she had been on hand for when the Beatles came to Vancouver. By all accounts, Revolver is an excellent substitute for the real thing, providing some bittersweet nostalgia for those of us on the upper side of fifty, looking back fondly on a group whose musical discography has become the soundtrack for a generation. If you ever get a hankering to recapture some of the memories, Revolver is just the ticket.

© 2010 Roger Wayne Eberle