Come together for Beatles tribute show
When Cameron Charters started learning his role as Paul McCartney for the tribute show Beatlemania, his first performances did not quite hit the mark.
Although the music and sound was spot on, the way right-handed Mr Charters played bass did not look authentic.
‘‘With Paul McCartney I learned I had to play the bass left-handed,’’ Mr Charters said.
‘‘Early on with the gigs I did right-handed, the photos just looked ridiculous.’’
He needed to relearn his favourite instrument to master playing with his left hand, and admitted it was a huge challenge, but to get the Beatles look authentic it had to be done.
‘‘We really do try and get everything right and accurate,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve got replica amps, guitars and costumes.’’
Beatlemania is coming to Shepparton tomorrow. The show promises to be an entertaining evening of music from the fab four from Liverpool.
Mr Charters has been playing the role of Paul McCartney in the group for nine years, after stints in tribute acts for Fleetwood Mac and Queen.
He said it was exciting to learn to master the songs of one of his favourite bands.
In his time with the group he has played in South Africa, Canada, New Zealand and across Australia.
‘‘They really were the first and probably the biggest rock and roll band that has ever been,’’ he said.
‘‘They just took the world by storm.’’
At 36 years of age, Mr Charters missed the original run of the famous group by a few decades, but got into the music as he grew up due to his older brother being a fan. He found that despite The Beatles first becoming superstars more than 50 years ago, the people who came to the shows were not just oldies looking to relive the music of their youth.
‘‘It goes from eight to 80. I guess everyone knows at least a few Beatles songs,’’ he said.
‘‘There are people who grew up with their parents listening to The Beatles and they get into it from that.’’
The show covers the beginning and end of The Beatles right from their early days playing clubs in Hamburg with Pete Best, to their later, more experimental recordings of the late 1960s.
‘‘Three out of four of us have wigs too, all of us except George, who is au naturel,’’ Mr Charters said.