beatcombers in liverpool august 2007

The Beatcombers are back! After a stomping rock 'n' roll set at Liverpool's Cavern Club last night, the boys have firmly re-established their reputation as a must see act for the faithful. As ever, the band steered clear of the usual suspects ('She Loves You', 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' etc . . .), instead opting for the blistering 'It'll Be Me', the anarchic Rutles hit 'It's Looking Good' and the truly rare 'Talkin' About You' to name but a few oft forgotten gems. A pleasant surprise for an audience slightly jaded by the endless repetition of Beatles hits.... . and then they unveiled their secret weapons: "What about a little bit of Elvis?" before leaping into a ballsy cover of 'Baby, What Do You Want Me To Do?' and, with a crowd still reelin' & rockin', The Beatcombers delighted with their rocked-up version of the classic Nat King Cole song 'Pretend' - truly brilliant!

A return to the famous front of the Cavern Club for the Beatcombers, whose last appearance there was in 1999 which was also in fact their last gig! Slotted in between a couple of Eastern block Beatle bands, the Beatcombers material sounded original, fresh and provided yet another welcome break to endless grinding out of Lennon/McCartney tunes. Opening with the fantastic Rutles tune "It's Looking Good", the band stormed through some real classic rock 'n' roll, like "I Got A Woman" and "Just Because", with great energy and passion. The band also premiered a 'new' track called "You Got Everything" (originally by Liverpool band, The Cascades) which was followed by the announcement from the stage that "this song probably hasn't been played live in the Cavern for over 40 years!" - and probably right too! The Beatcombers specialise in material ranging from pounding Hamburg style rock'n'roll to the rare Beatles BBC set, but are also known for their quirky, left of field approach and they continued that tradition this afternoon with brilliant renditions of "I Remember You", "San Francisco Bay Blues" (available on the band's album "Eight Arms To Hold You" at www.applebeat.com/thebeatcombers )and what's fast becoming a new phase Beatcomber standard; the wonderful "Pretend". Overall, this was a great afternoon, in a great venue, with a great band, playing great material.
As Eleanor Bron says in the Beatles film "Help!", "I can say no more!"

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The Mustard Bar, 5.30pm Penny Lane, Saturday 25 August

The band's second gig of the day was a bit of a hit and miss affair due to the proximity of the venue, the time of the gig (5.30pm) and the fact that the PA blew out during the previous band's set. Although it was repaired, the band had to play a slightly shorter and more to the point set if they were to make the last of the Cavern City Tours provided transport i.e. a double decker bus which was parked nearly a mile from the venue and leaving at 6.30pm, with the band having to walk with their gear to and from the venue!! All that stuff aside, the band played a blistering set and for perhaps the first time, pulled together as a band to defeat the common enemy of the ticking clock. This was vintage Beatcombers stuff and arguably the best renditions of "Pretend" and "Baby What Do You Want Me To Do?" so far. What is very interesting though is how the Beatcomber material goes down with an audience straight after the big Beatle set pieces (like the Abbey Road ending for example!!) You might be forgiven for thinking that it somehow wouldn't be able to compete or that it might sound a bit lightweight, but in fact this set of songs work in exactly the same way as the would have done during the time frame when the Beatles themselves were playing them. Proof, if it were needed, that a great song is great song and always a great song!

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Convention day at the Adelphi Hotel and the Beatcombers are playing in one of the side rooms to a warm and receptive audience. The band are sounding pretty relaxed by now and material seems to be going down well. New songs in the set today included, Fortune Teller and I'll Be On My Way, both of which were sounding great and hit just the right spot. Other notable highlights included a fine rendition of My Bonnie, with Shug "doing the German bit" at the beginning - great stuff! At the end of the show, a member of the audience who was obviously around during the Sixties in Liverpool came up to the stage to tell the band what he thought....it went something like...."that was f****** brilliant stuff boys, that's how I remember the bands in the Cavern sounding, f****** great,f****** great!"
You can't really argue with that!

Perhaps the best gig so far - the band were as hot as the venue, which by the way was frightening! The boys threw the set list out and instead opted for 100 mile an hour solid gold "greatest hits" package. It was pretty much bang, bang, bang with truly great performances of "Baby What Do You Want Me To Do?", "Lend Me Your Comb" and "Sweet Little Sixteen" (which is available on the boys second album, "All Good Things") to name just a few. The band were so comfortable at this gig, they even played an old favourite from their debut album, "Eight Arms To Hold You" - Besame Mucho! That one hasn't seen the light of day in a while, but still sounding as fresh as a daisy. Cha Cha Boom indeed! Great gig and one to remember. The boys have now played five gigs in the last few days and they are sounding tremendous it has to be said...bring on the Cavern gig!

The venue was packed from end to end to see the band take on their penultimate gig at this year's Beatle Festival. The organisation at this gig can only be described as chaotic as the band can barely SEE the sound man, but struggle on as best they can. The Beatcombers raced through this one as they were slightly late on stage due to the previous act (a one man Lennon act) going on and on...er.. and on! That said, and after a couple of songs to settle in, the band started turning it on with excellent renditions of "It'll Be Me", "Besame Mucho" and "It's Looking Good" springing to mind! The sweat generated here was quite remarkable. It couldn't get hotter than this, could it?

Sorry, did I say it couldn't get much hotter than the last gig?....er..shoot me!....this venue appeared to be hotter than the SUN on entry! That kind of oppresive heat just can't be good for you. The Beatcombers took to the stage (already sweating by the way!) and opened up with a great version of "It's Looking Good" which set the tone for the rest of this, their last gig. You could easily run out of superlatives on the strength of this performance, with simply outstanding renditions of songs like "Baby What You Want Me To Do?", "Pretend" (definitely the best time they've played it) and "Lend Me Your Comb". The great thing about the Beatcombers is that you get to hear the type of songs that were played in venues like the Cavern Club in the early 1960's and it really does give you a sense of what that must have been like. Worth mentioning here is that the boys also played an excellent version of "From A Window" (or as they said in strong Scottish accents "Fae A Windae"!) After strong renditions of the Rutles hit "Between Us" and an outstanding "Sweet Little Sixteen", the guys left the stage leaving the audience smiling. This was perhaps the best and strongest performance of the Convention from the band, and given that they now played more gigs than rehearsals, that's probably not too surprising!

Of all the bands playing throughout this weekend of Beatle celebrations, the Beatcombers were an impressive part of a small and select group which included The Shakers, Flashback, The Prellies and of course the Overtures, to provide a genuine Beatlesque/Merseybeat/1960's experience for the general gig going punter. These bands don't just put the pointy shoes on, throw a wig up there and call each other John or Paul. No - they actually feel the music they are playing and that comes right across when it's happening. Passion, power, authenticity and (lots of) sweat....yip...that's about right, that's probably it.