From the archives of

::: COMMUNITY NEWS

The group stopped the show in the opening minutes to mug for a photographer.

Beatles tribute performance thrills full-house Amphitheater

Published Sunday, July 2, 2006

The Beatles’ tribute group Rain made a triumphant return to Lake Clementia Amphitheater Saturday night, delighting a crowd of about a thousand with a '60s odyssey of peace, love and rock ‘n’ roll revolution.

Starting with an incarnation of the Fab Four as seen on the "Ed Sullivan Show," Rain delivered a non-stop program that covered each part of the group’s history -- nearly three dozen songs, repeating few of the numbers they performed here three years ago.

The exuberance of “It Won’t Be Long” opened the show, kicking off a 12-song, half-hour set that channeled the joyous magic of the group's early years. Songs like "All My Loving," "I Feel Fine" and "I Saw Her Standing There" were capped with "Twist and Shout," which, following instructions from the stage, had the audience up and twisting on its blankets.

Throughout, the musicians -- Joey Curatolo as Paul, Steve Landes as John, Joe Bithorn as George and Ralph Castelli as Ringo, plus Mark Lewis, the group's manager, on keyboards -- demonstrated top-drawer musical and vocal skills. They offered note-perfect reproductions of the Beatles' recordings, even the songs that were pure studio creations, like the final half-side of "Abbey Road."

That string of song bits closed the show, but the crowd wanted more.

Rain came back onstage with a sing-along "Hey Jude" (the crowd sang the first verse solo, doing a good job) and brought the evening full circle with a rousing version of Chuck Berry's "Rock and Roll Music." At the crowd's insistence, there was a second encore, apparently unplanned, with Landes, in a Yoko-era white suit, standing at the microphone, hands in pockets, singing "Imagine."

The "Fab Four" Beatles opened the show and delivered a solid half-hour set, including some less-celebrated songs like "It's Only Love," "If I Needed Someone," "The Night Before" and "I Call Your Name."

The "Sergeant Pepper" era of the music was represented well, with the theme and reprise from that album, as well as "A Little Help From My Friends," "A Day in the Life," "When I'm 64" and "I Am the Walrus."

The music from the end of the Beatles' career closed the show, with "Something," "Come Together," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Give Peace a Chance" among the numbers.

At Rain’s first performance in 2003, a sold-out concert was considered to be 800, but the crowd surpassed that number Saturday night.

Marion Connelly enjoyed the concert with niece Julie Adams and her friend Adam Talbot.

Enjoying a picnic before the concert are, from left, Alan Hagberg, Bill Mucci, Debbie Hagberg, Janeen Mucci, Michael Tresler, Dixie and Martin Pavloff, and Amy Tresler.

From left front, Denise Edens, MaLinda Aguilar, Craig and Jill Hunter.

Zara Streng, twins Brie and Jenna Sheehy, and Sela Streng were at the concert with Zara and Sela’s dad, Phil Streng.