The Return of Beatmania to the Soo

["The Freq"]

Bon Soo Board and Staff along with our Title Sponsor OLG are thrilled to bring to Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday, February 13, 2010 - ``The Stars of Beatlemania``.

Beatlemania returns to the Soo for it's 3rd time next month. I've seen Beatlemania numerous times including one time with a full orchestra.. One word... STUNNING. After that, the show was downsized for obvious reasons of cost but the show is still worth seeing if you love the Beatles and their music.

Tickets are ONLY $20.00 including gst and are on sale at The Athlete`s Foot, Madonna Optical and Essar Centre.

The Stars of Beatlemania feature the same performers who starred on Broadway in BEATLEMANIA, the box office smash that toured the world. This production recaptures the sights and the sounds of THE BEATLES with remarkable detail. These internationally renowned performers have performed this exciting show all over the globe, thrilling audiences throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Central America and in such places as China, Singapore, Austrailia and Japan. Get on board the "Magical Mystery Tour" and experience the 60’s one more time. You’ll be Twisting and Shouting the night away with THE STARS OF BEATLEMANIA.

["The Freq"]

Well, I took in the Beatlemania show at the Essar and had a great time. This however was not the best Beatlemania cast I've seen but man were they great singers none the less. The cast were as follows, Alan LeBoeuf as Paul, David Leon as John, David Brighten as George, and Carrol Parker as Ringo. The best sounding Beatle was David Leon as John Lennon. He sounded the most like him. Alan Leboeuf as Paul McCartney had an absolutely great singing voice but didn't sound like Paul all that much. He definitely had his range. Carrol Parker as Ringo Starr played great and I'd have to say copied Ringo's chops and most of all "feel" better than any other drummer I've seen. People may not think of Ringo as a great drummer but trying copying his feel. That is the key to Ringo's playing. The band were solid musicians and the crowd really liked them. My only complaint was the sound company. I have a real problem with sound companies that "skimp" on gear and this company did that on this gig. I could tell the Beatlemania cast were getting pretty fed up with the lack of sound teching especially in the monitors. The front house rig was too small and just got by for this gig but it was at it's max. I was lucky as I always try and get floor seats as close to the stage as possible for concerts just for sound alone so it sounded good but by no means was the sound great. Vocally you could hear the band totally fine but instrument wise, the sound struggled. Parts of the drums were barely in the mix. I'm sure the side seats in the stands would have had problems hearing highs because there were only single columns of hanging speakers facing forward. None to the sides like most shows. I believe the sound company was Aphex. Remember them and don't book them. Local sound gurus Crank Sound Distribution should have done the gig and I'm not sure why they didn't. The show had a few thousand people there easily, a good turn out for a show that wasn't really advertised well. The stage was set up closer to the center of the stage and I'm assuming it was done so to save the sound company embarrassment from their small P.A. System. Highlight for me was the band doing Paperback Writer, one of the toughest Beatles songs to do vocally, and "The Night Before" another fave of mine. Other than that, it was a great Valentines present for my wife and me. :-)
A good time was had by all. :-)