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My comments on the Fab Faux
Sun, 24 Sep 2006 19:04:36 GMT rec.music.beatles
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DanKaye...
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Saw the Fab Faux last night and in a few words:
they were fantastic! First of all I was surprised that they had about 7 other musicians with them, including a horn section and a string section and there seemed to be a keyboardist in the back on the side that I couldn't really see. So it was a Big Band and it sounded like a big band: full, rich, and powerful. I am a big fan of the Fab Four and I think they do an equally great job of recreating the sound of the Beatles, and they are especially impressive in that they do it with just the four of them. However, the Fab Faux raises the Sound to another level, since it's such a big band, it's just much more powerful and "big". They started the set with I Am the Walrus and it was beautifully done; I can't imagine anyone doing it any better, live and this was a highlight of the concert for me, right off the bat. Soon after that they did Tomorrow Never Knows and that was another home run. The way they duplicated the backwards sounds, with live guitars was nothing short of amazing. And I assume they got those seagull sounds with a keyboard effect, who knows? But it was amazing to hear such a complex song being performed live, and they did a fantastic job on it! They also did some old songs like Any Time at All and No Reply and so on, and these were done to perfection, as well. They did an admirable job on All You Need Is Love, and Baby You're a Rich Man, too. Oh, and Within You Without You, with a sitar! Probably THE highlight of the night, towards the end of the concert, after I thought nothing could top I am the Walrus and Tomorrow Never Knows, and Strawberry Fields Forever - 3 of my favorites - was when they did just the very end of Bungalow Bill going into While My Guitar Gently Weeps. The guy on guitar did the lead solo PERFECTLY and with such feeling - it was absolutely one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard live in concert, and I've probably been to over 100 concerts in my life. I even saw George himself do it in 1974, and I hate to say it but this was better (if only because the sound where I was in 1974, in a big coliseum, was not that good)! The sound system was great last night, and we stood about 10 feet back from stage center, so it was like having the Beatles playing in your living room! They ended My Guitar with that left- out part of the song from the Anthology recording, acoustic, and man it sounded EXACTLY like George singing it! They mentioned at one point, "This band really "gets" George, and several times, Will Lee would respectfully say "That was George" and point upwards to Heaven. Will Lee really has a LOT of energy and jumps around and puts on a performance, and continually says how much he ENJOYS playing the Beatles' music. The others all seem to really enjoy it, too, and it is clear that they are doing the work they love, here. There were so many highlights, and another was when they did Good Morning Good Morning complete with animal sounds, into Sgt. Pepper reprise, and then the climax: A Day in the Life with that crescendo of sound in the middle and at the end. That was how they ended the main course of the concert, before coming back for some encore stuff. And as they walked off stage, the Inner Groove played (recreated by them of course). My only negative comment (and perhaps this is just a reflection of my critical nature; and others may not have perceived it this way) is that during the encore I thought they turned the sound up TOO loud and as a result the mix was thrown off, and at times it became a crescendo of noise. Dear Prudence was the weakest song of the night. Instead of it being soft and beautiful it was too loud and noisy and they seemed to just be "off" on this one. Likewise, Helter Skelter wss just too noisy and too loud and while the performance was exciting, there was something lost in the actual sound of it. Overall, I will go see them any chance I get and I really hope I get a chance to see them do a whole album in sequence, like Sgt. Pepper, the White Album or Revolver, as they do sometimes. If you get a chance to see them, go. Any Beatles fan would be thrilled. In fact, as I said, I have been to many concerts - including having seen the great copy band The Fab Four about 6 times - and I don't think I've ever seen an ENTIRE audience in such a state of ecstasy as at this concert. EVERYone was just enthralled from the beginnning to end; every time I looked around I just saw smiling, ecstatic faces; it was a beautiful sight to behold. Will commented how the audience was better than they expected and that they hope they can come back here again. Go see the Fab Faux! fishandchipp...
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