Rain’s like Beatles, but different
Rain: The Beatles Experience 416-
Until Nov. 13 at the Hummingbird Centre. Tickets $39 to $52. 872-2262 They look kind of familiar. And they sound even more so. But the four guys on stage at the Hummingbird Centre aren’t who you think.
That’s right, they aren’t The Beatles.
“ Well, d’uh.”
Let me explain. In Rain: The Beatles Experience, which continues through Sunday after already playing for three nights earlier this year at Massey Hall, the four musicians onstage aren’t quite pretending to be The Beatles. They are playing a band, called Rain, that is pretending to be The Beatles.
In fact, they have gone so far as to reshoot the cover of Abbey Road, with band members crossing the street in the same order as the musicians they resemble; that would be John (Steve Landes), Ringo (Ralph Castelli), Paul ( Joey Curatolo) and George ( Joe Bithorn). As an added touch, the VW Beetle in the shot is the current version, not its more iconic predecessor.
Other images are projected on screens showing ticket stubs from the year when Rain supposedly invaded the U.S. and played to delirious throngs at Shea Stadium. There is even a taped interview with an Ed Sullivan impersonator. You could almost say that Rain is to The Beatles as Monty Python’s Brian is to the son of Mary and Joseph — minus the satirical intent. Or any other intent that seems apparent. Somebody has missed the opportunity to turn this into a dark, deeply twisted, psychological drama about four clones trying to superimpose themselves on musical history. As it is, what we get instead is a fairly typical tribute show by a superior cover band. Musically, the quartet — helped by a fifth Rain-maker, Mark Lewis, on keyboards and percussion — spans the Fab Four’s career from early pop hits “ I Want to Hold Your Hand” to the psychedelia of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and beyond. The renditions tend toward precise facsimile rather than interpretation. Curatolo is particularly effective at summoning Paul’s vocal approach on “ Yesterday” and “ Blackbird,” while the mostly effective Landes sometimes strains a little too hard to capture the nasal quality of John’s voice. Not that those names are ever used. When Bithorn steps forward to sing “ Here Comes the Sun,” he is alluded to as “ the quiet one,” but the name George is never spoken. The events projected on screens at various intervals to lend historical context are real enough. Nixon meeting Khrushchev. The Kennedy inauguration. Peace protests. And so on. There is also a hilarious segment of TV ads, including a Winston cigarette spot which features cartoon figures Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble relaxing and enjoying a smoke. Now, that part probably seemed fake to the kids in the audience.