The highlight of today was to be a concert inside the magnificent Lichfield cathedral. Titled “Beatles by Candlelight” we were expecting an evening of Beatles songs performed to sound like the Fab Four.
Around six, we drove, through rain, to the city of Lichfield, managing to find a parking space in the Bird Street car park and paying the £1.50 by app.
With some time to kill, we slowly made our way to the cathedral.
After showing our e-tickets and a brief bag search, we discovered that the toilets were back outside. Collecting little green stamps on the back of our hands, we exited the building that we’d just entered and made our way the short distance to the loos.
With empty bladders, we returned to the venue and found our seats – B14 and 15 (second row in the middle).
The Candlelight portion consisted of a number of LED candles arranged on and around the stage. Strictly, this complied with the title but it wasn’t very atmospheric.
At the allotted time, FIVE musicians took to the stage to play the music of the fab FOUR.
After an extending acoustic introduction, another four performers came to the stage – these were the vocalists. An odd mix of five musicians and four vocalists to reproduce the sound of four lads.
To be honest, the promos did describe the gig as “The Music of…” but it was more of a “Our versions of…” The Beatles.
The songs were obviously those of John and Paul (and a bit of Ringo and George) but the ensemble added their own personality to the performance.
The sound mix was also off with the drums predominating the proceedings and the vocal, sometimes, difficult to discern.
Oddly, they changed some of the vocals, presumably to bring them up to date. Most noticeable was the lines in “Day in the Life” which was written as …
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke
but were rendered as …
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way outside and had a smoke
maybe to reflect the no smoking laws ?
The nine rattled through a number of songs from across the decade before the break.
Needing a comfort break, we made our way out but as we turned to return we agreed that it wasn’t worth the aural assault of another hour so headed for the car. We were not the only ones who’d had enough !
While inside the cathedral, outside, a mist had descended so the drive home was interesting with patches of fog to pass through. To keep us company I put The Analogues on Apple Music – a proper Beatles tribute band !
Stopping off at Tesco, I grabbed a four pack and a box of chocolates, some of both to enjoy back home.
One highlight was that the mist produced a great atmosphere for a riverside photo op in Lichfield.
