I
heard that Dion was going to play at The Cabaret
Theater in the Mohegan Sun Casino. I love the venue,
the sound is excellent, it only holds 350 people
so every seat is a great seat, and waitresses circulate
with drinks before and during the performance. This
ain't no Warped Tour. This is a venue designed for
a baby boomer with a touch of gray – for my
money a perfect venue for a concert.
So
I was checking out the availability of Dion tix
and was informed that they weren't on sale yet.
Ok, so what's the attraction this weekend? An act
called Classic Albums Live and they will be performing
the "Sgt. Pepper" album from beginning
to end.
Hmmmmmm, let's see – that little gem was released
this month 39 years ago. What are the chances I'd
ever get to hear it performed live? Hadn't happened
in almost 40 years so far. Hey, why not? So I purchased
two ducats and took my bride to the Casino for the
weekend.
I
didn't know what to expect, but I was delighted
with what I got. Classic Albums Live are not Beatles
impersonators. In other words, no wigs or costumes,
and the bass player don't play left handed. They
are not former members of Beatlemania out for yet
another payday.
They are a serious group of extremely talented musicians
who recreate classic rock albums live, note-by-note,
and song-by-song.
Now "Pepper" is an album The Beatles themselves
never performed live. They didn't have the technological
advances this modern group has and perhaps Pepper
couldn't be done live back in 67 when it was released,
but it was amazing and wonderful to hear it live
in 2006. Classic Albums nailed it! It was perfect
and in ways better than the album. It's always wonderful
to hear a string section live. The strings and horn
section augmented the basic rock group. Their dedication
to detail was a pleasure to behold. They even had
a guy who played sitar on "Within You Without
You."
Every
musician in the Classic Albums group is magnificent
and there was an absolute reverence for the material
they were performing. Pepper went by amazingly quick
so they treated the adoring crowd to a bouquet of
other Beatles tunes – "Here Comes The
Sun," "I Am The Walrus," "Help,"
and more. They dedicated "Birthday" to
Sir Paul, a nice touch. Each and every song was
killer and the entire audience would have stayed
all night until they did every tune The Fabs ever
produced. It was magic. They created magic!
I
wish I could tell you the musician's names, but
there was no program. Although they were introduced,
I wasn't taking notes and honestly can't remember
a one. Sorry guys, but go with a program. Us boomers
need to get by with a little help from our friends.
Their
web site didn't offer a run down either, but what
I did learn is these folks perform many classic
albums such as "Dark Side Of The Moon,"
"Led Zeppelin 1," "Born To Run,"
"Back In Black," and more.
I'd
love to see them perform all of these and plan to
attend their concerts (and they are concerts as
opposed to shows) whenever I can. I suggest you
do the same. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.
Check out their gigs at: www.classicalbumslive.com
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