Come Together play one of the most celebrated pieces of Pop music history, the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and reveal its eternal treasures.
If there were curtains, they would part to reveal the biggest Come Together ensemble to date. 17 players on the big stage. Four-woman string section, four-man horn section, four featured vocalists, and the core five man instrumental band.
We all know what we are here for. To experience the massive unconditional Yes. The 20th century’s greatest romance as music critic Wilfred Mellers may have written in Twilight of the Gods.
A lot to live up to and this ensemble does pass the audition.
We start with the title track and Sam Flynn Scott (Phoenix Foundation) leads the vocals. The seed of Heavy Metal was laid here. Jimi Hendrix blazed into this one, but he did not add anything new to the original guitar of Harrison.
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. James Milne (Lawrence Arabia) polishes the iconic tenor vocals of Lennon. Newspaper taxis identify the streets of London.
The sound is booming and smothered a bit, but it comes right here. It’s that celestial keyboard sparkles.
She’s Leaving Home is elevated from the original album. Luke Buda (Phoenix Foundation) leads the singing. The strings are featured. Chamber music intertwined with Folk Pop. She breaks down and cries to her husband.
Listening to the remastered album version, the live stage just brings the original more presence.
If it wasn’t for the string section, the gender ratio would be totally unbalanced. It is still under a quarter female.
One of my favourites is Within You Without You. The Eastern raga sound is incredible. Four guitars are playing. Where is the sitar sound coming from? Brett Adams (plays with everyone), Jol Mulholland (musical director as usual), Buda and Scott.
Somehow the drummer also manages the sound of a hand thumped tabla. I can’t it coming from anywhere else.
The actual fifth Beatle, George Martin disliked this song, thought it was droney and boring. Maybe it took too long to work up.
Scholes and Atkinson are Ensemble regulars.
Lovely Rita is just heavenly, sung by Swann.
It does have sonic connection to A Day in the Life. James Joyce’s Ulysses in song form. Starts with reading the news (what a massive shift in Collective Unconscious, or Id, is the internet), going to work, and by magic falling into the dream.
Then the final chord.
The Ensemble obliges.
Percussive elements of the Lewis Carroll-inspired Fields stand out. Jordan Matthias playing keyboards sings lead vocal on Penny Lane. Timeless superior Pop with sly references to a clean machine, fish and finger pies.
Part One is over and we suddenly realise that this Ensemble have captured the alchemy of that original experience.
I saw Bjorn Again two weeks ago at this same theatre, when they did the same for the music of ABBA. I feel I can safely say now that Come Together are an all-purpose Tribute Band.
The music of 1962 (Love Me Do) to 1964 was when they took Pop music by storm, reflecting all their past influences.
1965 and onwards was when they reinvented it all. John Lennon said it best, and I will paraphrase.
The Blues is a chair. Not for looking at, but to sit on. As an artist you sit on that chair as the source of the music. As the Beatles, we were building our own chairs.
While My Guitar Gently Weeps has Adams singing. His extended guitar solo is a clue to the source material for Neil Young.
Lady Madonna surprisingly rages with fire.
Drum and bass make a great entry to Hear Comes the Sun, sung by Milne.
That sitar sound is mesmerising on Norwegian Wood, with Swann on vocals.
It is all an overload of riches, and we could have listened to many more than the seventeen played.
Beatlemania does get a nod at the end of the song with the refrain of She Loves You.
The Come Together ensemble hold the packed, multi-generational audience in their palm with music from the best that ever will be.
Rev. Orange Peel
