‘Music is enough for a lifetime but a lifetime is not enough for music’
WHO hasn’t heard of the English rock band, the Beatles?
My friends and I bought tickets to the ‘Bootleg Beatles’ show at the Theatre at Solaire simply because we love music, and especially the Beatles, which was the fad when our rock ‘n’ roll generation was coming of age. We had the time of our lives watching and listening to the Bootleg Beatles, a Beatles tribute band, paying homage to our idols and recreating for us the Fab Four’s greatest hits.
The original Beatles band was formed in 1960 in Liverpool in the UK, composed of John Lennon, Paul McCarthy, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The Bootleg band meanwhile features Paul Canning, Steve White, Stephen Hill and Gordon Elsore. They are all Beatles fan, each of them having his favorite Beatles member: Gordon’s favorite is George; Stephen’s John; while Paul & Steve both like Paul. It was the second performance of the group in Manila, the first one in 2022 and it coincided with the 60th anniversary of the Beatles.
I’m sure the band was happy with the Filipino audience as they cheerfully sang along with all the Beatles numbers. Everyone seemed to know the lyrics by heart, heartily belting out with the band, “I saw Her Standing There”, “She Loves You”, “Roll Over Beethoven”, “Blackbird”. “Now and Then”, “Something” and a favorite of my friend, “All My Loving.” There were times when the fired-up audience would suddenly stand up to dance along the aisles but the most spectacular happening was when the whole concert transformed into a sing-along.
I was particularly impressed with Steve White’s solo rendition of Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday.” That song is popular even among the young generation.
More memorable songs were rendered. “Yellow Submarine” where everyone in our row (even the young ones) knew the song by heart. I’m sure readers remember the fun song “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” one of most popular Beatles songs ever. Singing continued “We can work it out”, “Across the universe”, “Oh Darling”, “Hello, Good-bye”.
The Beatles are regarded as one of the most influential bands of all time. Their songs are still being played on air and even those of the younger generations know many of their songs.
Pauline and Fia, Gen Z nieces of a friend, said they know of the Beatles because of their songs. “Their songs transcend generations and have become an inspiration to other singers, even the younger ones,” Pauline said. So don’t be surprised to hear those born after the Beatles split up belt out “Let It Be” or “Yesterday.”
Marielle, a millennial who works as a copywriter for an advertising agency, is an avid Beatles fan. She says the songs of the Beatles were introduced to her by her uncle. “It was influential for me because when someone introduces a song to you parang it’s a gesture of love.” She added: “When I found out about the Beatles’ story—from being just a bunch of guys playing in local pubs to becoming superstars filling up huge halls – it made me realize that some dreams are really just meant to happen.”
The Filipino audience did not want the show to end so the Bootleg rendered many encore numbers. The most popular was “Hey Jude,” of which I surprised myself how well I knew the lyrics. Another encore number was “The End” which gave everyone a feeling of nostalgia.
When we left the concert hall, we met many friends. The audience was a mix of old Beatles fans mostly from our generation, with a sprinkling of children of friends. It was a gathering of generations.
It put me in mind of the quote, “music is a piece of art that goes to the ears and straight into the heart.” For indeed Beatles songs give satisfaction to our lives. We left the hall that night vibrant and so full of joy.
My friends and I booked ourselves at the Solaire for an overnight stay. After the concert we explored the hotel, and ended up snacking heavily in one of the restaurants called “Lucky.” We took it as an intimation that we would be lucky at the casino. Off we went to the slot machines. I had no interest in playing but my friend Juris bought tokens for me so I tried the machine. They say first-timers are lucky. When the machine I was playing coughed up more than P2,000, I wanted to quit right away but Juris teased me as a quitter! We lost all their tokens after that and I thought: “does anyone ever win in a slot machine?” We all had a big laugh. We went to bed with our hearts full of gratitude for the evening of nostalgia and the company of friends.
The next morning we went for the breakfast buffet. The food was so great we spent all of two hours at breakfast, deliberately eating slowly to savor the fantastic food.
It was indeed a weekend well spent. Life is truly a spiral, we enjoy good times along the way, there are moments of sorrow as we continue climbing the spiral.
