Bootleg Beatles in concert

The last gig that the Beatles ever played was on the rooftop of the Apple Building on Saville Road in very cold London at noon on Jan. 30, 1969. The Fabulous Four were then on the final stages of recording Let It Be, which would become their last album together. They were also in the midst of planning a concert and of making a documentary of the process of making the LP. They were also on edge and hints of the approaching demise of the group were becoming evident. At a loss on how to end the film and leery about doing a big show, they decided to kill two birds with one stone by going up to the roof of the building and recording their live performance with producer George Martin.

For nearly an hour John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr did tunes like Get Back, I Want You (She’s So Heavy), Don’t Let Me Down, I’ve Got A Feeling and others. As expected, they stopped traffic with a startled noontime crowd caught between wondering what was going on and wanting to see and hear the boys. So as not to disrupt business below, policemen were soon also on the roof, unplugging amps to stop the show. Everything is documented in the film Let It Be including John Lennon’s famous, prophetic quote, “I’d like to thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we passed the audition.” It was not long after this that the Beatles disbanded. They were never to perform together again.

To this day, nearly 25 years later, millions all over the world still wonder what a Beatles concert would have been like. Which of their many hit songs would they have performed? Would they have been real entertainers on stage, precise with the music and quick with the funny quips? Would the show have been a true unforgettable experience? Nobody knows and we will never find the answers. But Beatles fans in the Philippines will soon get the opportunity to stop wondering and to get an idea of what a Beatles concert might have been like with the arrival of The Bootleg Beatles from London early next year.

Established in 1980, the famous tribute band has performed in sold out concerts all over the world, including on the very same rooftop of the now former Apple Building on Saville Row, on the 30th anniversary of that last Beatles gig on Jan. 30 in 1999. They have also been asked to recreate Beatles magic before Queen Elizabeth II herself and to open for pop stars like David Bowie, The Corrs, Bon Jovi, Rod Stewart and others. The present line-up is composed of Adam Hastings (John Lennon) on guitar, vocals and keyboards; Steve White (Paul McCartney) on bass, vocals and keyboards; Andre Barreau (George Harrison) on guitar and vocals; and Hugo Degenhardt (Ringo Starr) on drums, percussion and vocals. True musicians and singers all, they not only sing and play, they also bear a most uncanny resemblance to the Beatles.

A Bootleg Beatles show traces the history of the most famous band ever formed. There are typically five stages: Part one is about the beginning of Beatlemania and covers the years 1963 to 1965. Here are tunes like I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Do You Want To Know A Secret, Yesterday and I Saw Her Standing There; Part two is the Revolver era of 1966 with the tunes, Here There And Everywhere, Eleanor Rigby, Got To Get You Into My Life; Part three is psychedelia with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, With A Little Help From My Friends; and on to All You Need Is Love and the Magical Mystery Tour for part four; and Let It Be with Across The Universe, The Long And Winding Road, Two Of Us and maybe even a recreation of that historic rooftop finale to the Beatles era.

The Bootleg Beatles in Concert is a production of Viva Live, Inc. and Redstone Media Productions. The show will be held at the Plenary Hall of the PICC on Roxas Blvd. on Jan. 17, 2014. Tickets are now available at Ticketnet 911-5555; SM Tickets 470-2222; Ticketworld 891-9999; PICC 789-4734; and Viva Concerts 687-7236. Ticket prices are: Flat Center P4,700; Flat Left/Right P3,700; Level 2 Center, Left/Right P3,700; Level 2 Side Left/Right P3,100; Level 3 Center Left/Right P3,100; Level 3 Side Left/Right P2,500; Balcony P1,000; and Gallery P600.

You can also catch the Bootleg Beatles show at the SMX Convention Center in Davao on Jan. 18, 2014 and on Jan. 19 at the Grand Ballroom of the Solaire Resort and Casino, the Bootleg Beatles’ official residence while in Manila.

The Hollywood awards season has officially began with the recent announcement of the nominees for the 71st Golden Globe Awards of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association that will be held on Jan. 12, 2014. The top choices for this year are 12 Years A Slave and American Hustle which got seven nods each. Also among the nominees are Coldplay and Taylor Swift, either of whom might soon add a Golden Globe award-winning song to their hit-studded resumés.

Here are the nominees for Best Song for a Motion Picture: Atlas from Hunger Games by Coldplay; Let It Go by Idina Menzel from Frozen; Ordinary Love from Nelson Mandela, A Long Walk To Freedom by U2; Please Mr. Kennedy from Inside Llewelyn Davis by the stars of the movie, Justin Timberlake and Oscar Isaac plus Adam Driver; and Sweeter Than Fiction by Taylor Swift from the Paul Potts biopic One Chance.