The
first group were the Brothers from Germany. They performed Beatles
numbers with both original and new arrangements with absolute skill
and dedication. Their strength was in a balanced sound and the most
beautiful vocal harmonies and a cappella. The Brothers also apparently have
released original music. I think I may check it out.
Jay
Goeppner was the most energetic performer of the evening. He was
accompanied by the domestic Urban Crow who you might call the host
band of the festival. Goeppner attracted most of the attention for
being such a happy, brightly American who moves around a lot and
shares good spirit to everyone. Focusing on John Lennon songs,
Goeppner performed anything from early Beatles numbers to Lennon's
most intensive solo material.
The
most innovative performance was given by (perhaps the slightly
unfortunately named) Russian Puttin' on the Beatles Style who played
a really fast-paced set of three-accordion instrumental versions of
Beatles songs accompanied by traditional rock band instruments. The
virtuosity was amazing. It was easy to recognize the melodies, yet
there was plenty of room for improvisation as well.
Then,
there was a performance by the Overtures who were once again great
but they played the exact same set as a few years ago. A
long-standing Beatles and 60s tribute band, their performance is
always really professional and they don't follow the original
arrangements too strictly, but next time I would appreciate
hearing different songs, and, generally speaking, maybe some more
interesting choices than Light My Fire, You Really Got Me, and I'm a
Believer.
The
concluding act was Jiri Nikkinen The Beatles Tribute Band. Jiri
Nikkinen is Finland's official Beatles fan and his set included some really interesting rarities. Jiri is such a classy guy.
The
Beatles don't seem to attract young people like they used to, but
there were indeed some people (like me) whose parents had barely been
born when there was a band called the Beatles. The Beatles Happening
is a real high-energy event, the most joyful and melodic festival in
the whole country. You can't go wrong with that concept.
After
five and a half happy (yet physically a bit painful...) hours of
partying, it was time to pick up a free copy of a Beatles magazine
and go home.
2 comments:
Hello again. I disagree with the claim that The Beatles don't attract young people like they used to (not speaking of the original 1960s, naturally). In a place like Tampere Beatles Happening, it is the concept of the high-profile festival, and the performers who seem to be mostly older generation themselves (for example, Jiri Nikkinen is 48!), that don't attract. Even I didn't consider participating because of the pricey tickets and the slightly alienating scene.
(Muuten. Käypäs vilkaisemassa osoitetta http://musorgsky.wordpress.com. :D)
Hello to you too and thanks for stopping by. Yeah, of course young people love the Beatles but I haven't met hardly any of them. I could easily gather more people to go see post-modern experimental post-music performers (standing behind their machinery pulling knobs) than to a festival that has something to do with the Beatles.
When a high-profile Beatles festival is the only one you get, I don't mind the international top-notch musicians. Also, 25 € is still a very low price for a festival ticket these days.
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