‘Rain’ pays tribute to Beatles’ genius
Mark Lewis grew up a fan of the Beatles.
The legendary band is the inspiration behind the traveling show “Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles” — which he founded.
“The first time I saw the Beatles perform was on their first performance on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show.’ I was actually watching Walt Disney on the living room TV when my mom came in and said I should tune into Ed Sullivan,” he says during an interview. “I was taking piano lessons at the time, and I figured my mom was trying to get me to watch Liberace or something as inspiration to get me to practice more. Even though I was only 12 years old at the time I was very much into music, and I used to collect records (45’s) and listen to music all the time. I remember watching the performance, and being totally blown away.”
The current tour for “Rain” will make a stop in Albuquerque on Monday at Popejoy Hall.
The show is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album.
Together longer than The Beatles, “Rain” has mastered every song, gesture and nuance of the legendary foursome, delivering a totally live, note-fornote performance that’s as infectious as it is transporting.
Lewis says songs from “Sgt. Pepper” will be performed, as well as other Beatles favorites “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Hard Day’s Night,” “Let It Be,” “Come Together” and “Hey Jude.”
Lewis says the show originally started as
“Reign” and was intended on becoming an original record act.
Decades later, the tribute show is bigger than ever.
“Eventually, (I) met up with guys that are currently in ‘Rain,’ and who happened to be really great musicians and had a true love for the Beatles,” he says. “Here we are touring the world and starring on Broadway.”