Beatles enthusiasts united on Thursday and Friday night for Broadway Philadelphia’s Rain: A Tribute to The Beatles at the Merriam Theater. It was a packed house for the opening, with diehard fans shuffling through the entrance the moment the doors opened. As a result of an underground fire in Center City, there was a power outage which affected the theater’s balcony seating section; however, the power outage did not stop the fans from having an unforgettable experience celebrating the world’s most critically acclaimed band.
Traveling through the decades of The Beatles unparalleled music catalog, Rain started off the evening covering some of The Beatles earliest throwbacks including “From Me to You” off of their 1964 album, Twist and Shout, and “Yesterday” from Help! Seamlessly transitioning into what one might refer to as their “boy band” phase, Rain’s second set imitated The Beatles’ 1965 US tour at Shea Stadium, featuring a few songs from the Shea Stadium setlist and the LED background containing footage of screaming and crying fans (hence, boy band phase).
As Rain continued through The Beatles’ anthology, the set colors and costumes became more vibrantly outrageous and intriguing, especially when they popped out to “Penny Lane” in their Sgt. Pepper’s garb and began to cover classics like “Strawberry Fields” and “Here Comes the Sun.” The performers had striking resemblances to John, Paul, George, and Ringo and had the movements and rhetoric down to a T when they engaged with the audience. Surrounded by several generations of long time fans, I observed the crowd to see people singing, clapping, smiling, dancing and of course giving the peace sign when Lennon’s character sat down at the piano to belt out “Give Peace A Chance.”
The Beatles are a band that people of all ages hold dear – from those who grew up with the boys as teenagers, to those closer to our age who were introduced to the band by our parents. Many of us have been listening to The Beatles for as long as we can remember. Yet no cover bands are as electric as this show! Some of the top performances from the evening included “I Feel Fine,” “A Day in the Life,” “Blackbird,” and a riveting version of “My Guitar Gently Weeps” with ‘George’ absolutely nailing the guitar solo. Rain gave a two hour must-see performance, ending with “Hey Jude” and a standing ovation.
If you’d like to travel back in time with this musical spectacular, tickets are still available for purchase. This makes for a great Valentine’s gift! Showtimes are for the Merriam Theater and will be held Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m.
