The 26th of September saw the fifty-fifth anniversary of one of the most iconic and influential albums of all time – The Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road’. To celebrate, The Blues Kitchen in Brixton advertised a live band version of all the greatest hits from the album, such as ‘Come Together’ and ‘Here Comes The Sun’. What they chose not to mention until the band had entered the stage, however, was that they would be performing the entire album from start to finish.
I’m a little overqualified to be reviewing this particular gig due to my spending the summer constantly listening to the album in its entirety for my own 55 year anniversary celebration – Abbey Road’s 55th Anniversary: Playing and Singing the Album in One Take (youtube.com) – but I shut off my analytical brain on the night so I could simply enjoy some of the most important songs in the history of rock music, played by a group of absolutely fabulous musicians.
It is worth mentioning the venue itself, and the attendees. The bar was adorned with stained-glass windows, and there was a large open space for the audience, which gradually filled up by the time the show started at 20:40. I was delighted to see a diverse age range in the audience, and some pretty wacky appearances of some people, as though I’d stepped straight into the late sixties/early seventies. The band – comprised of drums, keys, bass, three guitarists (two of which were principal singers) and a vocalist – were met with a very enthusiastic welcome, complimented by the dramatic use of lighting. Once they had announced that they were playing the entire album, I knew we were in for a spectacular evening of entertainment.
I will go through the set song by song in an attempt to capture just how thrilling the gig was for me, a lowly audience member.
COME TOGETHER
The show begin with a quiet ‘1, 2, 3, 4’, followed by a sudden eruption of yellow light. I can’t have been the only one who was stunned by just how much the singer, Charlie Love, sounded like John Lennon. The female vocalist’s singing of the second verse was brilliantly powerful, complimented by the incredibly slick four(?) part backing vocals, which remained throughout the show in perfect balance. A particular highlight was ‘got to be good-looking’ up the octave – that was cool.
SOMETHING
We had a new singer – Fred the guitarist, who seemed to sound eerily similar to George Harrison. A particular mention must go to the rhythm section in this number, who kept their parts exactly to the original. The bass was sublime, and the use of the drumkit toms during the middle of the song made the whole thing very, very exciting. The synthesizer in the background added a thickness to the texture, replacing how the original has a whole string section – the balance of this, alongside all the other busyness, was extraordinarily perfect.
MAXWELL’S SILVER HAMMER
It turns out you don’t need an industrial anvil if you have as much energy as The Sierra Band. A particular shout-out must go to Dave on the keyboard, and his choice of the most perfect, most ridiculous brassy synth to replicate McCartney’s bizarre story-telling number.
OH! DARLING
Charlie Love’s vocals are, quite simply, out of this world. The ‘when you told me’ section completely blew me away, I couldn’t believe how well it was being sung. And I wasn’t the only one – some members of the crowd were starting to audibly express just how incredible the performance was, screaming and whooping when Love hit the highest notes again and again… while of course maintaining professionalism and taking notes, I may have joined in at a few occasions.
OCTUPUS’ GARDEN
The backing vocals were utterly sublime. Ringo would be very proud.
I WANT YOU (SHE’S SO HEAVY)
Here we had a dramatic change of tone. The guitarists tuned down. The lights dimmed, and turned red. Love’s vocals transfixed us all once more, sounding particularly Lennon-like on ‘youuuu’. During the main riff section I could not help but headbang as though I were at a heavy metal concert – it was just that good. The drums and the bass created a perfectly heavy (no pun intended) pulse which seemed to go through the floor. The bass and the synth soloing over the top of this made the whole ordeal even more exciting, making us all forget how many times they had to repeat that same riff. A special mention must go to Love’s scream – ‘yeeeeEEEEEEHHHH’ – at the end.
HERE COMES THE SUN
In which Love tells us all to shut up, because we were still cheering after the previous number! This was a good call, as it meant we all focused back in for the famous, sunny riff. Freddie sung this one, showing how well his voice suits Harrison songs – I noticed he even had a similar vocal technique to Harrison, notably in his mouth shape while singing. He is also an excellent singer in his own right, whose tone contrasts very effectively to Love’s.
BECAUSE
“It’s about to get f ***cking wierd” we’re told. They were right. The backing vocals in this number were absolutely exquisite and quite hypnotic. I do wish there was a bit more volume on the synth solo during the final verse, however.
YOU NEVER GIVE ME YOUR MONEY
The female vocalist took the lead on this one, and gave the song a whole new character while keeping it authentically McCartney-esque. Her tone was absolutely beautiful, and added a whole extra level of emotion to the number. Her vocalising over the top was the icing on the cake. I’m also not sure how Love can sound both like Lennon and McCartney, but in this one it did feel as though Paul himself was on the stage. The transition in this song was also impressively slick.
SUN KING, MEAN MR. MUSTARD, POLYTHENE PAM, SHE CAME IN THROUGH THE BATHROOM WINDOW
The vocals, both backing and main, just kept getting better and better, showing the impressive endurance of the singers. No-one will have noticed just how tricky the time signature changes are, because they occurred immaculately. The drums and use of the toms, especially in Polythene Pam, were absolutely thrilling. I raised my hand to the ceiling in the transition into the final number just because of how good it was.
GOLDEN SLUMBERS, CARRY THAT WEIGHT
The lights went down. Freddie took the lead vocals for this one, and it was magical, especially as the audience sang along. The musicians whistled at the point where a brass group plays, and that whistling for some reason made me teary-eyed, it was such a nice touch.
THE END
The drum solo. The drum solo. The drum solo. The drum solo. The drum solo. It was absolutely amazing.
HER MAJESTY
The lights turned off completely, then came back on for Freddie singing with an acoustic guitar. The audience accompanied the first few lyrics with overwhelming screaming. He ended the song perfectly with its unfinished ‘dink donk’ bit at the end (how else can I put that?), and relaxedly turned around as if he were about to grab a cup of tea from the side. And that was the most perfect finale for the most perfect play through of the album.
And get this – that wasn’t the end of the show. The band did a whole second half.
I would like to draw attention to just how impressive it was that they seemingly recreated all the sounds of the album completely live, with only seven people. Who knows how much multi-tracking and orchestral arranging was done to form the original record – I doubt that The Beatles ever thought anyone would try to replicate all the sounds on the live stage and succeed so effectively. As a die-hard Beatles fan, this will remain one of the best gigs I will ever go to, likely in my whole life.
As I had to finish an exam paper, I returned home after they’d finished the album playthrough, and couldn’t stay for the second half. But rest assured, I returned with a sore throat, only one photo of the gig, and a very, very happy heart.
