Rain

Dena spotted a while back that the Beatles tribute band "Rain" was scheduled at the Peoria Civic Center yesterday, which the band later mentioned was the 45th anniversary of the first time the Beatles set foot on American soil.

It started at 8:00 and ran until just after 10:00, with a fifteen minute intermission or so at 9:00.

They went through several costume changes, starting with my favorite (in terms of songs, not necessarily in dress) suit-and-tie motif from the early years. Later they moved into their more colorful gear.

One thing that stood out to me was all the choreography. On the large side video screens they played several clips of old commercials and popular shoots like JFK's "ask not what your country can do for you" line. Throughout the concert, they simulated the raininess of their Shea Stadium concert, reconstructed the set of the old Ed Sullivan show (including a look-alike to introduce them). The uncanny similarity of their voices and appearance to the actual Fab Four... even their heights. The skill of some of those extended guitar riffs, with "George Harrison"'s fingers flying all over the frets, is always impressive and humbling for a hack guitarist like me. And I dare say that in those moments that they bantered with the audience, they were actually smoother than the Liverpool mop tops.

The seats averaged about $50 a pop, but it was worth every penny to me.