- Title: GERMANY: American band "Rain" elate German audience with Beatles remake
- Date: 24th April 2008
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (APRIL 17, 2008) (REUTERS) "RAIN" BAND MEMBERS JOEY CURATOLO (PAUL MCCARTNEY), STEVE LANDES (JOHN LENNON), JOE BITHRON (GEORGE HARRISON) AND RALPH CASTELLI (RINGO STARR) POSING FOR CAMERAS AT NEWS CONFERENCE PHOTOGRAPHERS TAKING PICTURES WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE PAN ACROSS REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) STEVE LANDES (JOHN LENNON) SAYING: "The thing about the Beatles is, their music speaks to today as well as those times. We show the 60s, but we're still in the same frame of mind, peace and war and getting along, culture. At the end of the day, the Beatles music was all about peace and love. That's something that speaks to today's generation just as much as it did then." SIDE SHOT OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOEY CURATOLO (PAUL MCCARTNEY) SAYING: "It's all there, I mean, you know, we listened to theses records -- when i say we, I mean all of us who grew up with this music. It's so embedded in our psyche that if we don't do it, it sounds like something is wrong. So it's got to be there, whether it's a change of a word... For example, some of the words in Please, Please Me -- John says one word, Paul says another. It's got to be there. There is a couple of clams on the guitar now and again." WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) MAREK LIEBERBERG, CONCERT ORGANISER SAYING: "It was my wish to give back to people the songbook of their generation. I saw the band and I find them almost more authentic than the Beatles." WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 9th May 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- Country: Germany
- Reuters ID: LVAAY0WT0YAK0BS03D15OEW0CPZC
- Story Text: American band "Rain" revives The Beatles and elates German audience during concert in Berlin.
Beatles hits such as "A Hard Day's Night" and "Hey Jude" were revived during a concert in Berlin on Wednesday night (April 16) as American band "Rain" elated their German audience of all different ages.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison were impersonated by members of "Rain - The Beatles Experience" which has specialised in music of the Liverpool band for almost three decades.
Wearing Beatles hairstyles and Sergeant Pepper outfits, the four Americans fully succeeded in fulfilling their audience's expectations.
"I am totally elated," said one fan who attended the Berlin performance at the city's Renaissance Theatre.
"I never would have expected anything this wonderful. I'm a big Beatles fan and therefore I was pretty sceptical as to how such a revival band would succeed," Patricia DeMolier said.
"But I thought it was totally fantastic, it was just superb,"
she added.
John Lennon impersonator Steve Landes said he believed that "he thing about the Beatles is, their music speaks to today as well as those times."
"We show the 60s, but we're still in the same frame of mind, peace and war and getting along. At the end of the day," Landes said, "the Beatles music was all about peace and love. That's something that speaks to today's generation just as much as it did then."
"Rain" intends to stage more concerts across Germany and the man who brought them here is optimistic they will succeed.
Concert organiser Marek Lieberberg, head of one of Germany's main concert agents which bears his name, told Reuters Television "it was my wish to give back to people the songbook of their generation. I saw the band and I find them almost more authentic than the Beatles." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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