Beatles back again

THE Beatles – consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, from Liverpool, England – ruled music charts around the world for an entire decade, starting from 1960 to the end of 1969, when the band officially broke up.
After that, the members each went on to carve out prolific solo careers, but fans around the world have always wondered what would have happened had the band not broken up in the first place.
Last week, Malaysian fans got to "imagine" that possibility, with the staging of the renowned West End production Let It Be which chronicles the band's career, ending with a fictional reunion on the day of Lennon's 40th birthday on Oct 9, 1980.
The talented musicians portraying the Fab Four were Michael Gagliano (Lennon), Neil Candelore (McCartney), J.T. Curtis (Harrison), and Chris McBurney (Starr). They took over the Plenary Hall, KLCC, playing some of the Beatles' biggest hits, and engaging in some witty banter with each other, complete with the distinctive Liverpudlian accent.
The show began with the band in 1964 and its first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, where the Fab Four kicked off the 'British Invasion' with performances of songs like She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand and Yesterday.
The scene then moved to the Beatles' landmark 1965 concert at New York's Shea Stadium, where they got the crowd going with iconic songs like Help, Twist and Shout, and Day Tripper.
Things really picked up during the next set, as the band went through the Beatles' eighth album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Dressed up in the Beatles' colourful, eye-catching costumes, the foursome belted out a series of psychedelic hits, including With a Little Help from My Friends, Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, When I'm 64, and A Day in the Life.
A quick costume change later, and the audience were treated to tracks like Come Together, Get Back, Revolution and The End, from Abbey Road album, during the Beatles' final days.
After a brief intermission, the show resumed with what everyone had been waiting to see: the much-hoped-for reunion of the Fab Four.
The set included songs that the band recorded on its final album, Let It Be, but which were never performed live, as well as songs its members recorded individually after the breakup.
The audience in the Plenary Hall had a ball, singing along to songs like Band on the Run, Watch the Wheels, Black Bird, Here Comes the Sun, and the show-stealing Imagine.
Towards the end, the foursome got the audience to let their hair down, calling people down to the front of the stage to dance to classic rock-and-roll numbers Rock and Roll Music, Long Tall Sally, and Roll Over Beethoven.
The show ended with the James Bond theme Live and Let Die, and a song the band performed with Eric Clapton, While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
Unsurprisingly, the audience still wanted more, and the band returned to perform Back in the USSR, as well as two iconic singalong songs, Let It Be and Hey Jude.
Individually, each of the four performers got his moment to shine. My favourite was Candalore, who threw in a bit of his own wild vocals into his McCartney.
Gagliano was amazing as Lennon, showing off his skills on both guitar and piano, while Curtis brought the house down with his guitar solos.
The biggest surprise was McBurney, who revealed a booming voice when he performed Starr's solo hit It Don't Come Easy.
The band was accompanied by a fifth performer, keyboardist Daniel A. Weiss, who provided the string and horn sections for many of the songs.
All five men outdid themselves to deliver a memorable show, and for a moment, everyone could almost believe that the Beatles had indeed, truly reunited onstage.
Let It Be was organised by AC Music Entertainment, and supported by Malaysia Major Events.