Join Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band this weekend.
When Beatles tribute production “Rain” returns to Philadelphia March 23-25, their multimedia celebration of the celebrated rock group’s enduring songs will be noticeably different, highlighted by performing the “Sgt. Pepper” album in its entirety.
The ensemble’s John Lennon persona, Steve Landes, said that keeping the 50th anniversary victory lap going for “Sgt. Pepper” – a notably ambitious, creative Beatles recording with songs they never played in concert – was “a big undertaking” for a five-piece band.
“I was kinda worried about whether we were going to be able to do it live. ‘Sgt. Pepper’ is so complicated. There’s so much going on musically in that record,” said Landes, a Lansdale native now making his home in California.
Besides The Beatles’ penchant for playing unconventional chords, a sample of challenges to tackle included the orchestral cacophony of “A Day in the Life,” the cut-and-splice tape loop of carnival calliope and organ music in “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” and the Indian classical instruments in George Harrison’s “Within You Without You.”
“We can’t spend 10 minutes bringing a sitar on stage and figuring out how to mic. that. Our Ringo plays tabla sounds on a drum pad. I play some of the sitar parts on the keyboard,” Landes said. “We hope the audience realizes that at least we’re playing everything live. It’s really unbelievable how well it’s gone over, and that’s a testament to how great the album is.”
A former cast member of “Beatlemania,” Landes successfully auditioned for Rain 20 years ago, and is their longest tenured member. He said he’ll continue playing with Rain “as long as I can look youthful and feel youthful.”
“I’m still having the best time with it. We’ve had the same band for five years. I love the fresh energy of these new guys. We have a camaraderie that feels like The Beatles in a lot of ways,” he said.
When asked why the band chose the title of the B-side of “Paperback Writer” for their name, Landes said: “The band started in 1975 as an original band, and they were called Reign – R-E-I-G-N.” Long before the tribute band craze began, Reign had a Beatles cover set as part of their act, that they meticulously worked on to sound like the recordings.
After changing their name to Rain, they were chosen to cut the soundtrack to the made-for-TV movie “Birth of the Beatles,” which was produced by Dick Clark Productions.
Landes, who will have plenty of family in attendance at the Academy of Music for the run of Rain, thinks he may have had a hand in inspiring original Beatles drummer Pete Best to form The Pete Best Band.
On a group trip to England, Landes found himself at Liverpool’s Casbah Club, which located was in the basement of Best’s boyhood home, and was one of the places The Beatles formed their hometown fan base. Encouraged to get on stage, Landes belted out the lead vocals to “Slow Down,” an R&B song by Larry Williams that The Beatles recorded in 1964, accompanied by Best on drums. “The walls were still covered with the artwork that John, Paul, George and Pete did in the early ’60s,” he said.
