Let it be ... Beijing

Chinese capital gets own version of the Fab Four

More than 50 years have passed since the Beatles put out their first records - in Hamburg - which makes it all the more remarkable that millions of feet are still tapping to their music. And among those tapping their feet are the burghers of Beijing. Step forward the Beijing Beatles tribute band, which is bringing to the Chinese capital the kind of music that set off Beatlemania in the early 1960s.

The first two members of the Beijing band when it was founded in 2010 were Troy Reilly, an Australian, and Greg Desbuquois, a Frenchman.

Reilly says the idea for the band came to him after he attended a Beatles tribute concert in Melbourne. Since the Beatles never performed in China, he felt forming a band in Beijing would be all the more special.

Finding the right talent to play the parts was difficult for Reilly, particularly since there was no managerial figure like Brian Epstein to show the way.

In a case of art and entertainment replicating life, the Beijing band has lost original members, but now the lineup looks like this: Reilly is Jorge Arrowsmith; Desbuquois is Gringo Star; Ian Burns, an Englishman, is Don Lemmon; and John Devlin, also an Englishman, is Raul McCarthy. Reilly says that with the two Englishmen in the band, the vocals have significantly improved.

The satirical names, each of the first with a distinctive Spanish ring, are aimed at adding an extra dash of entertainment to the proceedings, but Burns suggests it may also help to lift the pressure on the four as they try to emulate their heroes. "I'm not sure what sort of a job I do of being Lennon. I don't feel any pressure really, (since) we all try to keep it quite light-hearted (in my case by being) Don Lemmon."

As for the roles they play, it seems they might well have drawn lots for the parts, in the absence of any discernible attachment at least a couple of them show to the characters they are playing.

Burns professes not to be particularly drawn to John Lennon, and Devlin says that while he has always been a fan of the more melodic, pop-oriented songs in the Beatles catalogue, most of which were written by Paul McCartney, one reason he took the role of McCartney was that all the other positions were taken. Desbuquois adds his own idiosyncratic touches to Ringo Starr by sometimes jumping out to center stage to sing. But it is clear that Reilly has a soft spot for George Harrison.

"In a world driven my ego, George, the quiet Beatle, seemed to come across as being more about finding peace within himself, a quality that I really admire. I also love the lyrical style of his guitar soloing, the tone of his playing and the choice of equipment he popularized, including Gretsch guitars and Vox amplification."

With full mops of hair and often dressed in the kind of glistening, kaleidescopic garb that Sergeant Pepper would be proud of, they usually perform for up to two hours, re-creating the Beatles music of Hamburg, the Merseybeat sounds of the mid-60s and more. Their name does not tie them down to Beijing, and they perform in venues far and wide, whether it be in provincial cities like Hefei or metropolises like Hong Kong.

Just as the real Beatles had diverging ideas on how things should be run, the Beijing four had different expectations when they formed. For the most part, they play for fun and out of their love of the Beatles, while Desbuquois was not averse to making money out of the venture if the band was going to be popular.

When it comes to what influence they wish to bring to the audience and what reaction they expect, the Beijing Fab Four have diverging ideas, too. Reilly and Desbuquois say they simply want the audience to have a lot of fun and not to take it all too seriously. For Devlin the audience is "the only thing that is important", a sentiment Burns sympathizes with.

"At the vast majority of (the shows) the audience totally get it, and that's what makes it enjoyable. If the audience is into it, into the Beatles and the whole performance we put on, then it makes us able to give more and makes the night a success."

The Beijing Beatles have played about 100 shows over the past year. One of the highlights was performing at the British Chamber of Commerce's Swinging 60s ball in Shanghai. There the stage set was designed to resemble the Cavern Club in Liverpool, the live-music venue in which the Beatles held residency and which was a key stop on their journey to fame.

A documentary film has been made about the band and Reilly's life and was broadcast on Chinese television.

Riemy Wan from Hong Kong watched a Beijing Beatles show at the Hot Cat Club in Beijing on March 2, and lauded the band's energy and ability to emulate the Liverpool four. Among the audience that night was Neil Bhullar from Wales, who is the guitarist with a band named Dama Llamas.

"These guys are really good," he said. "They get all the parts right; all the harmonies are bang on. Music scenes like those in Britain and the US have a huge historical legacy upon which to base new ideas. Beijing doesn't, and that's another reason why the Beijing Beatles are such a hit in town."

It does not matter where one hears the Beatles, he said, and performers like the Beijing Beatles are doing a great service in giving people a taste of what the real Beatles were like.

The four band members were drawn to Beijing for a variety of professional and personal reasons. Reilly has been the longest in the country, more than a decade, part of that working at the Australian embassy in Beijing.

Reilly says that his family thought the idea of a Beatles replica band was a joke at first, but his sister Eliza was supportive and went out the next day and ordered him a Sergeant Pepper's outfit from an online costume shop. Burns' wife Teodora Lazarova, who works in Beijing, is a frequent audience member.

Burns says that they aim to have 50 songs to perform this summer, about 10 more than now. At the same time, new suits will be added to their wardrobe to give the show a lift. Devlin hopes the band will venture to more places in China, thus introducing more people to the music of the Beatles.