I heard that Dion was going to play at The Cabaret Theater in the Mohegan Sun Casino. I love the venue, the sound is excellent, it only holds 350 people so every seat is a great seat, and waitresses circulate with drinks before and during the performance. This ain't no Warped Tour. This is a venue designed for a baby boomer with a touch of gray for my money a perfect venue for a concert.
So I was checking out the availability of Dion tix and was informed that they weren't on sale yet. Ok, so what's the attraction this weekend? An act called Classic Albums Live and they will be performing the "Sgt. Pepper" album from beginning to end.
Hmmmmmm, let's see that little gem was released this month 39 years ago. What are the chances I'd ever get to hear it performed live? Hadn't happened in almost 40 years so far. Hey, why not? So I purchased two ducats and took my bride to the Casino for the weekend.
I didn't know what to expect, but I was delighted with what I got. Classic Albums Live are not Beatles impersonators. In other words, no wigs or costumes, and the bass player don't play left handed. They are not former members of Beatlemania out for yet another payday.
They are a serious group of extremely talented musicians who recreate classic rock albums live, note-by-note, and song-by-song.
Now "Pepper" is an album The Beatles themselves never performed live. They didn't have the technological advances this modern group has and perhaps Pepper couldn't be done live back in 67 when it was released, but it was amazing and wonderful to hear it live in 2006. Classic Albums nailed it! It was perfect and in ways better than the album. It's always wonderful to hear a string section live. The strings and horn section augmented the basic rock group. Their dedication to detail was a pleasure to behold. They even had a guy who played sitar on "Within You Without You."
Every musician in the Classic Albums group is magnificent and there was an absolute reverence for the material they were performing. Pepper went by amazingly quick so they treated the adoring crowd to a bouquet of other Beatles tunes "Here Comes The Sun," "I Am The Walrus," "Help," and more. They dedicated "Birthday" to Sir Paul, a nice touch. Each and every song was killer and the entire audience would have stayed all night until they did every tune The Fabs ever produced. It was magic. They created magic!
I wish I could tell you the musician's names, but there was no program. Although they were introduced, I wasn't taking notes and honestly can't remember a one. Sorry guys, but go with a program. Us boomers need to get by with a little help from our friends.
Their web site didn't offer a run down either, but what I did learn is these folks perform many classic albums such as "Dark Side Of The Moon," "Led Zeppelin 1," "Born To Run," "Back In Black," and more.
I'd love to see them perform all of these and plan to attend their concerts (and they are concerts as opposed to shows) whenever I can. I suggest you do the same. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.
Check out their gigs at: www.classicalbumslive.com
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