The exciting India vs England World Cup match on Sunday 30^th June didn’t prevent music fans (read Beatles fans) from thronging St Andrews auditorium in Bandra for The Beatles Tribute. By the look and sound of it, the show was indeed a tribute to one of the greatest rock bands of the 60s.

The band’s performance is close as we will ever get to seeing The Beatles perform massive hits like I want to hold your hand, Ticket to ride, Help and many others. The Fab Four were represented by vocalists Naquita D’souza, Hormuz Ragina, Sarosh Nanavaty, and Arish Bhiwandiwala, who were backed by keyboardist Brent Tauro, guitarist Siddharth Shankar, bassist Adil Kurwa and drummer Danish Khambata taking the reins of Richard Starkey aka Ringo Starr. Their rendition on the songs was near flawless and their improvisations on of the Beatles classics incredible.

The group managed to retain the songs identity while delivering almost pitch-perfect performances of some of The Beatles’ most beloved hits. Their idea of a cardboard Yellow Submarine dropping from the ceiling was significant and so was the interpretation of the classic song.

Naquita was amazing with John Lennon’s Imagine. On Come Together and All you need is Love the four gave it their best. Hormuz got the crowd on their feet with his bopping Back in the USSR.

There were medleys aka The Stars on 45 style which had a very original touch and were well crafted, with songs like All you need is Love and She loves you.

Post the interval, the singers sported the Sgt. Peppers colorful regalia of 1967 that took the Beatles’ art to the next level. The costumes were tailored to pinpoint accuracy, with even the session musicians sporting a good look. But where was the famous iconic title track Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band? The song was sadly missing in the show.

The quartet’s performance of George Harrison’s While my Guitar Gently Weeps was radiant, while Yesterday backed with a string orchestra and sung by Arish, took the tribute show to new heights, upholding the spirit that The Beatles once had. Twist and Shout and Obladi Oblada was when everyone joined in the partying. With Hormuz on lead vocals (he was the darling of the lot), you needn’t have to say anything more, for at times he made a Mickey of himself on stage, with even compere Danesh Irani commenting that he resembled a blind Lennon with the iconic round granny black sun glasses.

Sarosh Nanavaty who was part of second season of TV reality show The Stage, is a talented singer to look out for in the coming years. She gave a powerful shot with the brilliant Oh Darling. A driving performance was of Helter Skelter from the Beatles 1968 double ‘White Album’. It was an unexpected track considering it was not a chart topping hit for the Beatles. But surely a welcome addition to the track listing for those unfamiliar of the tune. Not as melodic as most of the Beatles hits, but the sheer energy displayed by Naquita was very convincing that a lot of research had infact gone into the making of this Beatles tribute.

The final song of the night With a Little Help from my Friends was nostalgic, but as expected, the crowd asked for an encore. Hey Jude was the obvious choice, not forgetting the tail ending lalalalalala. What sets The Fab Four apart from Beatles tribute bands, is their expertise and ability to pay close attention to even the minutest details. That’s the case when the group took this seriously on songs like Hey Jude.

In addition to offering Beatle lovers impeccable music, powerful vocals and a sound uncannily like the originals, the four singers tried their best to being the Phenomenal Four with their vocals and musicianship and transported the audience that consisted of the young and old, right down to the Justin Bieber generation who are discovering the magic of the Beatles.

However it would do well to synchronize the history of the Beatles from their humble beginnings and their rise to stardom replicating each stage of Beatlemania. Needless to say, but many classic hits were missed out, while many complained the show was a tad short in duration. The Beatles were known for their short two and three minute songs, so alternatively the show could be also divided into Love songs in the first part and post interval, set the stage for the Rock n roll greats. Also, slides and videos depicting the Beatles in between songs were missing, as would Beatles trivia about each song.

All said it done, it was a magical evening.

By Verus Ferreira