Let It Be

The Beatles wrote the soundtrack from my childhood through to my teens. The songs peppered life back then and I loved them, from the early hits to their far more adventurous later compositions when eastern spiritualism, and of course drugs, had their influence. Let It Be is a celebration of that music, that weird modern form which treads a fine line between theatre and concert. Thankfully this was more concert and we were spared the interference of “go-go” dancers, and given a visual and aural representation of the fab four as they developed across those years when they ruled the world of entertainment.
Of course the whole was only going to work if the company were able to emulate that sound accurately. Thank heaven then that they did, and did it well. All four, and their supporting keyboard player, are accomplished musicians, especially “George” who ripped into the Clapton solo from While My Guitar Gently Weeps so convincingly. “John” was much better in the later period works when his vocal skills really matched the material and “Ringo” was good throughout playing on his “wacky” humour as much as his drumming and occasional vocals.
But it was “Paul” who pulled off the full monty, playing, singing and fully capturing the character of McCartney down to the gentle tilts of the head, very convincing indeed, except of course that he wasn’t left handed, a small point that only a nitpicker would spot, sorry.
The choice of songs was great, the costumes good and the vintage newsreels and interview soundtracks used sparingly enough to not slow the evening down. A thoroughly enjoyable evening, a successful blend of tribute act and storytelling that didn’t bog itself down in trying to tell the whole and all too familiar story of the band’s rise to fame.
18 July
Theatre Royal Brighton
Andrew Kay
4 stars