Beatles tribute marks anniversary
When some venues asked Deacon Productions if a Beatles soundalike band could be added to the company’s series of tributes, Abbey Road was born.
The group, which debuted in October 2021 at Chicago’s City Winery, marks its one-year anniversary Oct. 29 in Park Forest with Freedom Hall’s first evening performance of the 2022-23 season.
The group will also perform Nov. 18 at the Des Plaines Theatre.
“It feels great. I run, manage and play in six all-star Grammy tribute bands. We have 11 Grammy Award winners that play with us. Four of them are permanent members. The remaining seven rotate in and out as guest soloists,” said Steven Kikoen, founder and director of Deacon Productions.
“I never had an intention of having more than one all-star Grammy tribute band but these others came in a series of happy accidents.”
The Southland show features Kikoen (guitar, vocals, musical director); Jim Irizarry (guitar, vocals) of Worth, who also performs as John Lennon in Beatles tribute American English; Josh Solomon (guitar, vocals); Shawn Sommer (bass); Chris “Bean” Weng (drums, vocals); and Ben Lewis (keyboards).
That ensemble also includes Olya Prohorova (violin), Emma Lynn (violin), Dessi Nenova (cello), John Bowes (saxophone, flute), Chuck Parrish (trumpet, piccolo trumpet) and Rich Lapka (trombone) as The Pepperland Orchestra.
“Abbey Road truly is rock band meets orchestra, which allows us to do the
mid-era and late-era Beatles material,” said Kikoen about the tribute named after London’s former EMI Recording Studios, which is now known as Abbey Road Studios and where The Beatles recorded.
“Jay Goeppner is going to be a special guest. He’s got a real Beatles vibe to him. He was in the well-known Chicago Beatles group called The Beatle Brothers. He’s in another group called Backdated. It’s well-known.
“He’s performed at The Cavern Club where The Beatles got their start. He goes there about two or three times a year and performs with different Beatles projects there. He also performs a lot in London in Abbey Road itself and in Ireland at The Beatles venues.”
The south suburban concert features nearly 30 songs, including most of the Side 2 medley from the “Abbey Road” album and note-for-note replications of tunes from The Beatles’ entire repertoire.
“We’re doing the songs pretty much in chronological
order,” said Kikoen, who taught a Beatles class to teenagers for more than 25 years at Niles Township and Lincolnwood schools.
“There’ll be everything from ‘Ticket to Ride,’ ‘Nowhere Man’ and ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ to ‘Eleanor Rigby,’ ‘Lady Madonna,’ ‘Penny Lane,’ ‘Strawberry Fields Forever,’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,’ ‘The Fool on the Hill,’ ‘I Am the Walrus,’ ‘Yellow Submarine’ and ‘Oh! Darling.’ ”
With a large Beatles catalog, it can be hard to pick a favorite to perform live but Kikoen cited “Penny Lane” due to it being universally loved and having a familiar piccolo trumpet solo.
“When we performed that song for the first time at City Winery last year at the debut gig, after that solo people burst into instant applause and gave a standing ovation in the middle of the song. I’d never seen that before. Talk about goosebumps,” Kikoen said.
“The other song I absolutely adore performing, and I don’t even play much on, is called ‘Martha My Dear’ from the ‘White Album.’ Paul (McCartney) wrote the song for his sheepdog. All it is is orchestra, his voice and a little guitar in the background. Everybody loves it.”
Kikoen, a Homewood native and current Arlington Heights resident, discovered The Beatles circa age 8 during the band’s debut performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on Feb. 9, 1964.
“I had a mini violin in my hand when I was watching it around the family TV set after Sunday dinner,” said Kikoen, a graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor High School.
“I remember looking at my baby violin, seeing these cool guys with long hair and all the screaming girls, and looking back at my violin and saying, ‘Yeah, that’s not going to happen.’
“They were literally known as the first rock group. Before them it was always the one name, the Hollywood front man. There was the star of the group and the other two, three or four were the backup group for the star. That’s how music was up until the moment The Beatles invaded America.”