It may have been a week night, but the city showed up in large numbers for The Beatles tribute show on Wednesday evening. No surprises there — it was The Beatles after all. Organised by The Buzz and Sterling Holidays, Museum Theatre saw a packed house...with high energy and plenty of hooting! And that’s all the first band on stage, Bluebirds needed to keep the fire going. Add to that their super charged and limber vocalist Rajasekaran aka simply ‘Shake’ — “cos they tell me I shake too much,” the singer laughed mid-song.
With tracks like When I saw her standing there and an upbeat, rather than sombre Imagine...folks couldn’t seem to get enough! And there were several in the audience sporting Beatles T-shirts as well which added to an already manic auditorium.
Unfortunately, the acoustic set that followed with Sangita Santhosham and Roshan George may have put a pause on the pace of the evening. Sangita’s rendition of Blackbird was short and sweet, but their own renditions of some of the other tunes like I feel fine had mixed reactions. Just goes to show, even after 50 years —the four-member band from Liverpool still has us listening them just as if it were Yesterday...
However, the most high-octane act for the night, JFK (Just For Kicks) was saved for the second half. With favourites like Hard Day’s Night, While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Day Tripper — people were itching to jump out of their seats and do more than just clap along. And when a much-awaited Come Together was finally performed, accompanied by some heavy-duty guitar work and flashing white lights —well let’s just say, we thought the evening couldn’t get any better.
But there was more. There was an unexpected Joe Cocker version of With a little help from my friends, which courtesy Richard Nathan, sounded close to the original. And a final goodbye with Hey Jude...cellphone lights waving in the air, hands swaying and people singing along...t’was almost like a Beatles brotherhood coming together! As far-fetched as it might sound, the next time you have a fight at home, just put on a Beatles tune. Bonding over The Beatles certainly helped this crowd Come Together.