The Beatles and Help! The Beatles Tribute

On January 30th, 1969, The Beatles performed their last live concert. Well, sort of. On that date the band, searching for a suitable way to end the Let it Be movie, decided to ascend the stairs of their London office building and play live on the rooftop. Down below small crowds gathered and a few lucky observers watched from nearby buildings. The band ran through about thirty minutes of new material until the police arrived and shut them down. That little “concert” was the only time the band had performed live since their last tour in 1966. After the final show of the tour, The Beatles made a decision amongst themselves that they would never tour again. After a relentless schedule that began in early 1963, the group became a “studio band” concentrating on their writing and recording. In September 2016 a new Beatles’ documentary called Eight Days A Week was released in the U.S. and U.K. (we performed at the film’s premiere in Slovenia in early January). Directed by Ron Howard, the film follows The Beatles' career during their touring years from 1962 to 1966, from their performances at the Cavern Club in Liverpool to their final concert in San Francisco in 1966. It’s hard to believe that The Beatles last tour was 50 years ago! As time moves on, generations of listeners have discovered the band solely through their recordings. And as amazing as they are, the fact that the band was a great live rock n’ roll band seems to have been forgotten. The movie serves as a reminder to fans of just that fact. In many ways, that is exactly what HELP! A Beatles Tribute is all about. Most people today have never seen The Beatles perform. From the beginning, we always strived to give the audience a complete experience. Hearing the songs performed as they have come to know them along with seeing four musicians on stage rocking. We quickly realized there were people in the audience between the ages of 15 and 25 at every show we played. This initially came as quite a surprise. When we would speak to them afterwards we heard the same thing. Most of them were turned on to the music by a parent. We soon realized that what we were doing really carried a great burden. These young people were coming to see Beatles music performed live for the first time in their lives. We couldn’t let them down! In the last four years we have performed for people of all ages. It’s especially nice when parents bring their children to our shows. Often, if a child is in front of the stage during a concert, we’ll bring them up on stage. It’s a special moment when we tell the audience that they are the reason we are doing this. It’s for future generations to enjoy the greatest music and the greatest band to world has ever seen.