Studio Two, the Beatles tribute ~ 2023 June 11 ~ John Alden Sportsman's Club, Plymouth, MA
Scroll to below videos for a review of the show.
Videos ... if a problem with viewing, go to Youtube and search by performer and date; the Youtube account is in the name "nicepace"
I Saw Her Standing There
I Want To Hold Your Hand
Act Naturally
Doctor Robert
Review
I've seen Studio Two in a number of different settings and they are always so much fun. I've seen two different Ringos and as of today, four different Pauls. And they've all been really fab. The new Paul today was evidently playing his first gig with the band -- welcome aboard! The Ringo today was the one we've seen more frequently. And of course John and George, twin brothers in real life, are the same two as always, the rock of the band.
It's not that any of these guys actually look that much like the real Beatles (except John), but their outfits and their hair are just perfect, and their demeanor is just right, from the Beatle bow at the end of songs to the rhythmic bouncing up and down while playing. They play all the same instruments as those early Beatles. Often two of the singers will share a mike in a very Beatley way. The playing and the singing is spot on from all four performers, and they all do a really good English accent. All four of them, including the new Paul, were friendly and upbeat in their banter with a touch of wit thrown in, just like you think the real guys must have been in those days (if anyone could have heard them above the screaming).
The set list for this band, unlike some other Beatles tribute groups, focuses on the early years, with a handful of somewhat later songs creeping into the show (George's "Taxman," John's "Doctor Robert"). It's mostly the early material, including a couple of songs that date from the Cavern Club days. It's mostly the songs you've known all your lives, that if you're my age you grew up listening to on the radio, that have brought joy into your lives for (oh my god) going on sixty years. Songs that will live forever like "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You." Songs that make your pulse elevate and that put a huge grin on your face!
Well, Concert Going Partner and I live on Cape Cod, and when we bought tickets to a Sunday afternoon concert in Plymouth in mid-June, I'm not sure we thought about the traffic leaving the Cape. It was a tedious slog getting there, and we missed about half of the warm-up performer's set, but so it goes. The opening act was Andrew Lewis, who played mostly known songs from the rock 'n' roll era with a few originals thrown in.
It turned out that getting food was a bit of a hassle. The John Alden website implied that there was food on the premises, but it turned out one had to order from a nearby restaurant and wait an hour for them to deliver. If we go again to another show we'll eat ahead of time to avoid the inconvenience. Other than this, it was a nice place to see a show. Plenty of parking, easy to find off Rte. 3, and lots of room in front of the stage to set up lawn chairs. During the concert some sort of hefty pollen grains were falling from the sky; if you watch the videos (above) you'll see that these grains almost looked like snow.