The Next Best Thing

Since it's no longer possible to see The Beatles perform, the next best thing might be seeing "the best Beatles tribute band on the planet" (according to The Beatles' past promoter) play at a private party, right?

That's what my husband and I got to do a few weekends ago when "American English" performed at a colleague's residence. I did a crappy job taking pictures, but hopefully you'll get the idea...








That's right, my friends, they changed outfits three times to represent the "early years," the psychedelic Sgt. Pepper's era, and the Abbey Road phase.

While the band obviously didn't have the same set-up as "The Fab Four" show I saw in Vegas (as in, a huge stage and concert-like seating for the audience, movie screens, special lighting effects, etc.) since they were playing in someone's home, all of the other details were there, down to the instruments. They even busted out the kazoo for "Lovely Rita"--YES!

And if you closed your eyes while they were playing, it was freaky. You really couldn't tell that it wasn't just a Beatles CD blasting.

If you ever get a chance to see them (they tour around every once in a while), you should definitely check them out. There is a calendar of their performances on their site--it looks like they are based here in Illinois, but they do travel around often.

- e