Audience Gives All Their Loving to The Fab Four
By Kristen Fiore
Daily Sun Senior Staff Writer
The Beatles tribute band, The Fab Four, performs the song “Twist and Shout” on Wednesday at the Savannah Center. Photo by Michael Johnson of the Daily Sun
Note: This article was originally published in the Thursday, November 29, 2018 edition of The Villages Daily Sun.
There was arm-waving, seat-dancing, energetic clapping and a whole lot of twisting and shouting Wednesday night at Savannah Center as The Fab Four brought the Beatles back to the height of their popularity.
The Fab Four is a Beatles tribute group that authentically re-creates Beatles hits with a plethora of instruments and costumes.
The music was completely live, and the audience enjoyed a psychedelic trip back to the ‘60s during the concert, which was framed like an episode of “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
Performers portraying Sullivan and each member of The Beatles were completely in character during the entire show.
“I like the lyrics, the song writing, the performances,” said Beatles fan Casey Marr, of Haciendas at Mission Hills. “All four of them were great musicians. This is the only way to hear their music live now.”
After an introduction by Ed Sullivan, the group, clean cut, shaven and dressed in neat suits belted out some of The Beatles’ earlier hits such as “She Loves You,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Eight Days a Week” and “All My Loving.”
The group had an uncanny resemblance to The Beatles, but even more importantly, they sounded just like them, too.
“It’s great to be here,” said the performer playing John Lennon. “They say bands play here twice in their career, once on their way up and once on their way down. So, it’s good to be back.”
In between sets, Sullivan took to the stage and told jokes.
“The boys met The Rolling Stones backstage,” he said. “They brought a big tray of brownies. I must’ve had a dozen!”
He also did impersonations of famous comedians and actors from the time.
The next time The Fab Four came out on stage, they were wearing The Beatles’ iconic colorful silk suits and feathered hats from the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album.
Ardy Sarraf, left, as Paul McCartney, Gavin Pring, center, as George Harrison, and Adam Hastings, as John Lennon, perform “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” as Beatles tribute Band the Fab Four performs Wednesday. Photo by Michael Johnson of the Daily Sun
“Do you like our uniforms?” said the performer portraying George Harrison. “I got mine from a mystical psychedelic place that no one’s ever heard of. It’s called Lake Sumter Landing.”
As the show went on, it got more artsy and trippy, just like The Beatles’ career.
Michelle and Duncan Campbell, of the Village of Pennecamp, said they enjoy all of the Beatles’ music.
“There were other bands at the time, but everybody was listening to the Beatles,” Duncan said.
And with musically genius songs like “A Day in the Life,” it’s obvious why that was.
The Beatles had a sound like no other, and The Fab Four presented it well.
“They made such a cultural impact,” Marr said. “I remember when they were on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ and it was so exciting. It seemed like everyone in America was watching.”
