Last evening. my wife Cindy and I went with friends to see a highly entertaining musical performance at the re-modeled Norwood Theater in Norwood, Massachusetts. The show was called The British Invasion Years and used a clever premise to transcend the typical tribute band scheme. The four musicians played music from The Beatles and their Sixties contemporaries and then back stopped that with music they called The American Response. Even better, they didn't limit the music to the 1963-1965 period, but stretched out to cover music throughout the decade as long as it fit the themes.
The four musicians managed to play music from some very different groups and still make it succeed musically. The band's co-leaders are guitarist Lee Scott Howard and bassist Bobby M.. They've played together nearly 30 years and their musical rapport contributed to the band's tight musical feel. Lee and Bobby play their instruments well, but also are fine and versatile vocalists. Lee has unusual gifts -- he can hit the high notes akin to the Zombie's lead vocalist Colin Blunstone, but also plays some fine guitar. He mostly stayed with Sixties style licks, but couldn't resist occasionally adding some sizzle from more contemporary rock guitar licks. Bobby M. sang lead vocals on numerous tunes and anchored the bottom on his cherry-colored Rickenbacker bass guitar. Bandmate Jon Wolf adds versatility on keyboards and guitar, along with harmony vocals and the occasional turn on lead vocals. The fourth member of the regular group, Jeff Alai, is off the tour for now, but the substitute drummer played well and looked the part with his long blond hair.
So what about the music? The band kicked off the night with three songs from the early Beatles including I Saw her Standing There. Both Lee and Bobby were able to sing McCartney style vocals and the three singers added a nice harmony blend. The music then shifted both in time and style, as the band played Time of the Seasons from the Zombies. I saw the Zombies play a few years back, but this band did the songs justice. Lee's vocal range is outstanding, so did well on the lead vocals, with the band filling in the rest. Then Jon Wolf played the Rod Argent keyboard parts with verve. They followed with She's Not There, which was equally good. And so it went. In the British Invasion section, they flash cut between multiple groups of diverse styles including Herman's Hermits, the Kinks and notably, The Rolling Stones.
The Stones mini-set was impressive. It kicked off with Satisfaction, with Bobby on vocals and then they followed in quick succession with Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown and Jumping Jack Flash. Both of the latter tunes were done extremely well, with a mix of Jagger style vocals and expert guitar work from Lee Scott Howard. Here the guitar was much like the records, but had the verve of life performance. A bit later, the band did Back in the USSR and noted that the Beatles' White Album was celebrating a 50th anniversary.
After an intermission, the band shifted to music from American bands. For me, this section felt a bit weaker, but mainly due to the inclusion of a few chestnuts of bubble gum music and several tunes from the Monkees. But there were outstanding moments. The band launched into Love Her Madly and Lee Scott Howard dropped his voice into the bass register vocal and neatly captured the Jim Morrison style. Howard had a tough task, needing to both do the lead vocal and add the Robbie Krieger guitar parts, but he did well and the rest of the band were rock solid. The band did an obligatory rendition of Sweet Caroline -- Neil Diamond's song which has improbably made the journey from the NYC Brill Building to become the anthem for the local Red Sox. The band also played a Vietnam era song, Fortune Son, by the Creedence Clearwater Revival and captured that song's bittersweet mood. Earlier, the band had spent time with local Vietnam Vets and this song closed the circle.
The band closes the show with more Beatles music. On this night, Twist and Shout got folks dancing in the aisles and Got to Get You Into My Life was a rousing rocker. That was it for the formal set, but they stayed on and Howard began to sing the familiar vocals of Hey Jude and got the crowd revved up one more time. Afterward, the band members came out to the lobby and we chatted a bit with them as we headed out. This was a great show and I'd recommend it if they come to your area. They tour throughout the US and you can find their schedule at their web site.
Here's a picture of the band in the theater last night.
