RubberSoul & Revolver
'A Tribute To The Beatles'
March 20, 2022
The Majestic Theatre
Dallas, TX
Review by Michael Insuaste
Photos by Will Crews
A Beatles Magical Night At The Majestic Theatre!
It Was Fifty Years Ago Today: A Tribute to The Beatles starring Todd Rundgren, Christopher Cross, Badfinger featuring Joey Molland, Denny Laine (founding member of The Moody Blues and Wings), and Jason Scheff (Chicago’s lead singer from 1985-2016) performed at The Majestic Theatre in downtown Dallas. And what a glorious show it was!
With a fistful of talented of seasoned musicians, one would expect a top notch Beatles Tribute and that is exactly what was delivered. With so many classic Beatles hits to choose from and just from two Beatles LPs, the set list was filled with many familiar songs and some deep cuts too, if you can say The Beatles had deep cuts. But along with timeless Beatles songs, the touring artists performed a selection of their own tunes from their categories as well.
The concert was set in two segments that kicked off at 7 pm sharp. Kicking off the show with “Drive My Car” set the mood quite nicely as every fan in the house stood up, clapped and sat back down to enjoy what was to come. From there the touring band slid into “I Want To Tell You” from the Revolver LP and into another fan favorite “Taxman”. Performing songs from two of the best Beatles iconic albums, they gave us an idea on what to expect, but threw in hits from each individual artists past works.
“Go Now” sung by Denny Laine a Bessie Banks cover that was made popular by the Moody Blues followed by what could have been the highlight of the first half of the show “Band On The Run” by Wings. That classic number had the crowd practically in tears!
After another Beatles classic “I’m Only Sleeping”, Joey Molland of Badfinger stepped up to the plate to sing “No Matter What” a song everyone knew and had the audience participation with the mid-song clap. Nice touch people! They finished off the first part of the show with what could be one of the best Beatles numbers from the Rubber Soul LP “In My Life”. WOW! Closing the half on a somber song like that left a smile on everyone's face. Truly an enjoyment, but there was more to come.
The second half of the show began with “You Won’t See Me” and then the stage was handed off to Christopher Cross to perform his high lifting classic “Ride Like The Wind” that set the room on fire! The talent that was before us was simply incredible. You just could not wait for the next songs.
Falling back to perform more Beatles classic, they played a beautiful version of “Here, There And Everywhere” and “I’ve Just Seen A Face” two favorite Paul McCartney vocal tracks. But wait, just when you think it cannot get better, they followed with “Michelle” and “Norwegian Wood”… no words! Just greatness before us!
Giving the stage to Jason Scheff of Chicago, he sang two classic numbers the mellow “Hard To Say I’m Sorry” on keyboards and the 70s rock theme “25 Or 6 To 4” on his bass guitar. That to me was the BEST number of the show. Yes, I know it was a Beatles tribute show, but the musicians KILLED IT performing this song!
I was waiting for a slow point of the show but it just never came to fruition as the incomparable Todd Rundgren took the main mic and cranked out one of his timeless classic “I Saw The Light” and right into “Hello It’s Me”. I will say this, his version of that song was a bit off by him trying to make it somewhat comical. It didn’t go over well and really threw the song off. But Todd is Todd and will sing it anyway he wants!
Running down to the closing numbers, the musicians on hand harmonized into “Nowhere Man” and the corky Beatles number “Yellow Submarine”. Bringing into the deeper cuts from the two Beatles LP, they performed “Doctor Roberts” another song they could have left out, but it was fun to hear. Uplifting the show with “Got To Get You Into My Life” was a crowd favorite which had many clapping with the band.
They finished off the show with another Rubber Soul Beatles fan favorite “The Word”. One song encore but you can feel the magic in the air as the applause rang loud and long for what was just witnessed by a packed Majestic Theatre.
To say this is a show NOT TO MISS would not give it justice, this was one extraordinary show performed by musicians many of us have known for decades with timeless music that lives in us all. BRAVO!
Special Thanks to Angela at OutBack Concerts for making this happen in behalf of JAM Magazine.
