Fifty years after The Beatles made their debut on American television, the music of the iconic and legendary rock band comes alive on stage with “Rain: A Tribute to The Beatles,” June 11-15 at the Academy of Music.
The show is a live concert and multimedia experience taking fans on a visual and sonic journey through the group’s career.
“We play out The Beatles’ career live on stage, spanning from Ed Sullivan where America was introduced to The Beatles to the breakup,” said musician Steve Landes, who performs as John Lennon in the show. “It’s like seeing The Beatles play out their career in two-and-a-half hours.”
Landes, a native of Philadelphia and a lifelong musician, joined the Rain group in 1998. He writes and records his own music when he’s not touring as part of “Rain.” Being so immersed in the music of The Beatles, Landes said he works hard at trying to distinguish his own music from what people see him performing most of the time.
“It’s much more of a positive than a negative,” Landes said about the impact of “Rain” on his career outside of the show. “At this point, The Beatles are such an influence on music that I don’t think there is a recording artist out there that doesn’t have some sort of Beatles influence. I think people might notice it more in my music because they know what I do outside of my own music. They are looking to see which songs sound more like The Beatles and John Lennon. Outside of what I do with ‘Rain,’ the type of music I lean toward is a little bit more soulful and Motown-flavored. I think in a sense, my vocal style helps to differentiate between when I’m me and when I’m John Lennon.”
The music of The Beatles ran the gamut from pop, rock and blues to folk, classical and psychedelic. The show captures all those phases of their career.
Landes said his favorite Beatles period was near the end of the group’s career.
“I think the later stuff, the ‘Abbey Road’-era stuff, is a lot of fun to perform,” he said. “At that point it was real rock ’n’ roll with a message, especially with John [Lennon], who was heavy into the peace and love. He was becoming an icon for that with the songs he was doing at the time with ‘Revolution’ and ‘Give Peace a Chance.’ When the curtain first opens, people don’t know what to expect. So there is a little bit of scrutinizing but by the end of the show people are on their feet and dancing. It really feels like a celebration of The Beatles music.”
The Kimmel Center presents “Rain: A Tribute to The Beatles” June 11-15 at the Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St. For more information or tickets, call 215-790-5847 or visit www.RainTribute.com.