By Terry Miller
It had to happen.
In light of the historic Supreme Court ruling on Friday morning, Beatlemania Now decided it was more than appropriate to play the Lennon/McCartney masterpiece “All You Need is Love” at Cal Phil’s season opener Saturday.
The first half of the opening summer concert was devoted to Victor Vener, who masterfully conducted his orchestra through the complex Beethoven’s 7th.
As the warm evening progressed, Maestro Vener spoke of the astonishing history of the classics, be they Beethoven or Beatles … Vener knows his craft.
And part of the fun at Cal Phil is finding out some musical tidbits you might not have otherwise known.
For me, however, the real fun was seeing a Beatles tribute band Saturday. I’ve seen lots of them. In fact there are so many “tribute bands” out there it is a whole new industry … begging for worldwide audiences. There are Led Zeppelin look-alikes, Doors, Elton John, Queen and just about everyone in Vegas is Elvis. So the market is obviously able to handle all these musicians playing the roles of their musical mentors. Why? It’s simple. Some of the very best music ever written and recorded came out in the 1950s and 1960s during a time of great post-war social change.
This concert Saturday featured some of my all-time favorite Beatles’ ditties but as a drummer, my focus was on “Ringo” and his every-detail correct set of Ludwig drums.
Here’s where the problem starts … the sound of the drums was way below par. In fact the mix overall was not terribly good. Those beautiful classic Ludwig drums should have had that authentic, somewhat fat sound if the mics used were placed where they would best pick up the tones, instead of the overtones and ringing drum heads that were a telltale sign of a bad mix.
Admittedly, Cal Phil’s dome at Santa Anita is not as acoustically perfect as Walt Disney Hall, but there are ways to enhance drums, particularly through a good mixer.
With that aside, the rest of the concert was terrific – “Sgt. Pepper,” “Penny Lane,” and “Something” were just three of the fab four’s covers … terrific job from outfits to harmonies.
Cal Phil’s next performance is July 11 at Santa Anita race track.