The
John Lennon,The Beatles, Wings, Paul McCartney, George Harrison &
Ringo Starr Tribute Show
'Come Together - Right Now'
Liverpool Empire Theatre
Sunday December 11th 2005
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COME
TOGETHER -
RIGHT NOW
MULTIMEDIA
LIVE
CONCERT EXPERIENCE
Media hype, by the way, which has not been overstated; Silver not only
looks like Lennon on stage, he talks, acts and sings like the man to an
extent where a ghost might be before the audience. A truly amazing feat
when it's understood that Silver hails from, ironically, near Hamburg.
From the opening strains of Come Together to the final lines
of Twist And Shout, this was a show to please and move everybody
to tears and bouts of rapturous adulation.
Backed by Ian Watts (McCartney) Mike Willery (Harrison) and Steve Heappey
(Starr), Silver also had two drummers and the aid of The Outcast Drama
school to give the show an authentic feel, especially during Give
Peace A Chance where the kids all waved banners on stage, and
Help where a flock of teenagers filled the parts of the
screaming fans.
This was more than a mere tribute that fell back on nostalgia though; these guys could play. Watts also played guitar and keyboards, as well as Left-handed Bass. Wilbury played bass and guitar and Heappey, the drums. Added to this, the band sang with the attributes of the originals and stuck to the mannerisms of each member, it might have been easy to believe they were miming. Rest assured though, they were not. This was years of planning coming to fruition and each member of the cast could be clearly seen to be enjoying playing the City on such an emotional weekend.
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JOHNNY SILVER
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IAN WATTS
The vast screen that hung from the back of the set showed clips that,
at first, seemed to be gleaned from original videos, so authentic did
they look. A second look showed, in fact, that the cast before us were
the principal players.
With a story split into four sections, the track list started with Lennon's
# 9 Dream, Revolution, Instant Karma and a faultless
Jealous Guy.
Highlights, however, were saved for the second half with A Day In The
Life, Working Class Hero, Woman, Just Like Starting
Over and a truly poignant rendition of the anthemic Imagine.
Watts chipped in with numbers from McCartney's Wings and solo days. Band
On The Run, Live And Let Die and Baby I'm Amazed made
the audience believe that the other half of possibly the most famous lyricist
team in the world was playing live before them.
Wilbury and Heappey filled in the parts of Harrison and Starr's contributions
with My Sweet Lord and Octopus's Garden to name but
two.
The lasting image of the show, however, was Free As A Bird with
Silver on the big screen, and the band singing and playing on as
they did in the video, released well after Lennon's murder. In
all there were upwards of forty songs delivered with impeccable style,
during a show that lasted a little short of three hours. Yes there were
massive songs missing - Hey Jude and Let It Be being possibly
the most notable - but hey, there are only so many songs that can slotted
into one show and those that remained were superbly managed.
It might have taken the band years to cut through bureaucratic and copyright red-tape to put this show on, but anybody at the Liverpool Empire to witness it should be grateful for their determination.
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MIKE WILBURY
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STEVE HEAPPEY
This was the final gig of the current tour, but rest assured, they are
taking bookings for next year and I strongly recommend that everybody
keep an eye out for when they are nearby, because this is the closest
anybody is going to get to a Beatles concert and a truly stunning
performance from all concerned.
5/5
break the rules as I see fit.” - Chris High 2003.