Ball State’s Emens Auditorium welcomes, “The Classical Mystery Tour.”
By: Kevin Vickery
On Saturday, November 11th, I had the pleasure of witnessing an amazing performance of The Beatle’s most popular material, performed by cast members of the Broadway sensation, “Beatlemania” along with “Orchestra Indiana”, a 30-piece symphony conducted by Martin Herman.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect going into the show, as I’ve never really been a fan of tribute acts. These guys changed my mind. Their dedication to the sound and style of The Beatle’s individual members along with their various costume changes accurately depicted the band in their various looks throughout their roughly ten year career.
They started with the classic black suits, skinny ties and the “mop top” look that America fell in love with when The Ed Sullivan Show introduced America to the group in 1964. Then, with a full costume change, including mustaches, and colorful suits, they played several songs in “The Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” look, before making their way into a later, more hippie vibe to finish out the night.
Adam Hastings on rhythm guitar, piano, and vocals stole the show and made me feel like I was actually witnessing John Lennon perform. Robbie Berg on lead guitar and vocals played a particularly convincing George Harrison, and Neil Candelora’s portrayal of Paul McCartney was very authentic right down to the left-handed Hofner bass. Chris Camilleri was great on drums and with singing the Ringo Star songs but honestly looked the least like his character. They all played period correct musical instruments and spoke with British accents. In fact, Adam Hastings (John Lennon) is even from New Castle…. England, that is.
Having the benefit of 30 piece, Orchestra Indiana backing the band was a real treat that even the actual Beatles never had in a live performance. They did use string and horn sections on many of their studio albums and songs like, “Yesterday”, “Goodnight”, and my personal favorites, “Eleanor Rigby“ and “I am the Walrus” were brought to life with an authenticity that I would have never thought I’d personally witness anyone perform live, given that the band broke up a year before I was born.
I did however grow up listening to their music as my Mom was a mega-fan and was always playing their records in our house. She was just the right age to have discovered the “Fab-Four” on Ed Sullivan and to have attended their locally famous show at The Indiana State Fairgrounds in 1964. You can ask anyone from that generation who attended that show and it’s like bragging rights for those who can say that they were there.
On that note, during the intermission, I spoke with concertgoer, Carole Hundley who had made the trip from the East side of Indianapolis to Muncie to take in the show. She was proud to tell me that she had been at that State Fair show, back in 1964. She said she was enjoying the tribute experience and that, “Sergeant Pepper’s sounded great, and the orchestra sounded just like they did on the original recording.” She added that like me, “Paul was her favorite Beatle.” But was also shocked at how convincing Adam Hastings was in the role of John Lennon.
I was surprised at how diverse the crowd was at Emens Auditorium that night. Sure, it was skewed towards my parents generation but there was a surprising amount of younger people singing along, and even younger kids enjoying the show proving that the music of The Beatles is timeless and will remain popular for as long as there are people with the good sense to appreciate it.
For more information about the “Classical Mystery Tour” or for upcoming dates, visit their website at classicalmysterytour.com.
Henry County resident and Ball State alum, Kevin Vickery, is bassist and lead vocalist for The Cousin Brothers. He spent several years working in Nashville for some of the biggest names in Country Music before taking over the reins at his family business. If you have a story idea or an event that you think Kevin should cover, contact him at kevin.makesomenoise@yahoo.com
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