Expect to hear some Beatles, Buffett, Beach Boys and Bo Bice at the Phenix City amphitheater this summer.
The concert series kicks off this Saturday with a performance from Beatles’ tribute band Abbey Road LIVE! Other bands and performers in the series include Alabama native and former “American Idol” contestant Bo Bice, appearing in June, and The Landsharks, a Jimmy Buffett and Beach Boys tribute band playing in August.
Michael Wegner, who plays guitar, keyboards, clarinet and harmonica, for Abbey Road LIVE! said the idea for a Beatles tribute band began in the ’90s, when most of the members were playing for an original music band, Fuzzy Sprouts. They learned the entire “Abbey Road” album for one of their shows and got a great response from the audience. After the Fuzzy Sprouts split up, the band officially became “Abbey Road LIVE!” and began learning more of the Beatles catalog.
But don’t assume that because you know the guitar chords for “Please Please Me” that Beatles tunes are easy to learn.
“Even the simpler tunes have challenging vocal harmonies,” Wegner wrote in an e-mail. “But some of material from the later years was especially tricky. Songs that were recorded with studio tricks, or extra layers of vocal tracks, backwards guitars, etc. These are the more challenging ones to recreate in a live setting.”
Those attending the Phenix City concert can expect a mix of Beatles favorites, with a focus on the later years. This show will also include guest orchestra players on violins, cello, trumpet, saxophones and flute, allowing the band to perform more material from the Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour years -- songs like “Penny Lane,” “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Yesterday.”
Wegner said audience reaction makes some songs especially fun to play live. “Here Comes the Sun” gets people smiling and dancing and “All You Need in Love” has audience members swaying arm in arm, he said. Other favorites usually include “Eleanor Rigby,” “Hey Jude,” and “Let It Be.” But the most requested song?
“We’ve recently done a few all-request shows and were surprised to find that our most requested song is “In My Life,” a song we don’t play very often,” he wrote.
Wegner says he can’t pick a favorite. “They have so many good ones.”
Sara Pauff, 706-320-4469
