We all live in a red submarine

Dressed in white satin Sgt. Pepper suits and donning mop top wigs, The Beijing Beatles look every part the British super group that took the world by storm half a century ago. Aside from their physical resemblance and stage names that mimic John, Paul, George and Ringo, the tribute band also has a knack for whipping crowds into a frenzy. Dancing without inhibitions as they sing along to the band's time-honored lyrics, it's hard to not get swept up in Beatlemania when the quartet performs at Beijing pubs and clubs.

As the curtain falls on another energetic performance, the four remove their sweat-drenched wigs and loosen their turtleneck sweaters. Beads of perspiration drip from faces, but their spirits remain high.

"Two-and-a-half-hour performances are really exhausting, but we really like to do them. We see the crowds don't want us to stop, so we can't stop," said Ian Burns (aka Don Lemmon), the band's lead singer and guitarist who formerly performed in a Qingdao-based Beatles tribute band called The Cheatles.　

The Beijing Beatles was formed in 2010 by Troy Reilly (aka Jorge Arrowsmith), the band's Australian guitarist, and have since racked up well over 100 performances. After a series of reshuffles, the current lineup comprises of Burns, 48; Reilly, 37; British bassist John Devlin (aka Raul McCarthy), 31; and French drummer Greg Desbuquois (aka Gringo Star), also 31.

The Fab Four's mission has always been to spread Beatlemania to audiences in China, whether at sweaty gigs in bars or the refined surrounds of corporate events. Despite facing challenges in balancing their passion for music with work, time and financial constraints, the band has found time to live their dream in a bustling city.

Coming together

Reilly came up with the idea of establishing the band while pondering what to get his mother for her birthday one year. Stumped for ideas, he opened a Melbourne newspaper and saw an advertisement for a European Beatles tribute band. Knowing his mother was a huge fan of the band, he bought two tickets and accompanied her to the show.　

"After watching the performance, I decided to quit my job as an immigration officer and found a Beatles tribute band in my second home of China," said Reilly, who previously worked at the Australian embassy in Beijing for eight years.

The Beatles never performed in China, partly because their peak in fame coincided with the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Many of the themes in their songs that dealt with love, spirituality and self-awareness were controversial in the West during their rise, let alone China where bourgeois elements were fiercely denounced.

Reilly decided to form the group because he believed a tribute band would be popular among audiences young and old with a shared appreciation for the Liverpool band's music. He originally teamed up with Desbuquois and another two Frenchmen. When the latter pair left China, the void was filled by Burns and Devlin.

Not another China knockoff

Reilly described the current lineup as the band's "best transformation" in its short history. "After Ian and John joined the band, we performed more like The Beatles since they have authentic British accents," said Reilly of the north England and Birmingham natives respectively.

After spending about two weeks adapting to each other's styles and finding their groove onstage, the band began to perform on the Beijing bar scene and instantly received an overwhelming response from audiences.

Opinions might be divided among audiences as to just how genuine The Beijing Beatles' sound is compared to their real counterparts, but most people are unanimous in agreeing that what they lack in authenticity they make up for with enthusiasm.

Frances Spontemayor, who has seen them play several times, said they were a respectable tribute to a band deemed among the greatest of all time.

"I saw them perform last month and they were wonderful, sporting the wigs and costumes similar to The Beatles," she told Metro Beijing.

Another audience member, Andy Hu, said they "played very passionately," but added diehard fans of The Beatles would be the toughest critics to impress.

A typical set from the band usually involves one half of songs The Beatles performed live and another half of studio-only recorded songs.

Like all traveling bands, the tribute group is in a constant battle to make ends meet financially and take care of other musical mishaps.

"For every performance, our biggest challenge is finding a good tuner. In China, professional tuners are rare and people are accustomed to just saying 'that's close enough.' When tuning fails to meet our expectations, it can influence our attitude onstage," said Reilly.

The cost of hiring a good tuner can sometimes be crippling.

The band once paid a professional tuner more than 30,000 yuan ($4,746) to tune their instruments for a gig sponsored by the Swiss embassy.

Finding the time to rehearse can also be a struggle due to work commitments among band members.

Burns runs Qingdao-based publisher Redstar, Desbuquois works in Beijing's real estate industry and Devlin is a professional musician.

"They all have to squeeze in time for performing, which can bring pressure," said Reilly, who earns a living from investment properties in Australia.

Cultural differences

Familiarizing themselves with the intricacies of the Chinese entertainment circuit has at times resulted in being left in limbo due to cultural differences.

Reilly recalled how during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games the band was invited to perform in Qingdao, where the sailing events were hosted, for a closing ceremony performance. Midway during their performance, a loud explosion was heard that sparked panic.

"At first, we thought it was a terrorist attack and were quite scared. But it turned out to be part of a pyrotechnic display. The director had not told any of us in advance, which was really unprofessional," said Reilly.

Then, of course, there is dealing with requests to play well-known hits to the exclusion of all others. At a corporate gig they performed in July, the band was asked to perform Hey Jude - a seven-minute ballad - a total of six times.

Having performed all over the country, the four are now turning their sights further afield and hope to tour other Asian countries, Germany and England, where the music they have built their reputation on all started.