I am old enough to remember when Elvis impersonators called themselves things like Billy Fury, Duffy Power, Terry Dene or even Cliff Richard. Now they call themselves Elvis tribute acts. The Everyman in Cheltenham has had several tribute acts recently and I, not being a particular Elvis fan, opted to see the ersatz Beatles in their BeatleMania show.

This is not the only Beatles tribute show on the road, some of them have been going for more than thirty years. I have been to see them because one of the biggest regrets in my life is that I never saw the real thing live.

BeatleMania was created in 1992 and has been going strong ever since, sometimes, even, appearing on the same bill as original sixties bands like The Searchers and The Hollies. Their client list includes David and Victoria Beckham, Sir Richard Branson, Madonna and Guy Ritchie, Tiger Woods and Wayne Rooney, among many others.

So how does Beatle Mania measure up? Can you, with half-closed eyes, imagine you are at a concert of the Fab Four? Well, to be perfectly honest, if you concentrate on the right of the stage, you can. Visually John Lennon is incredibly believable and George Harrison is quite acceptable and so is Ringo. Paul McCartney less so although his voice is absolutely convincing. They recreate the Beatles’ sound to perfection using the same guitars and amplifiers. A few little niggles though – George never had any peddles and they never used three microphones, with Paul and George always sharing one, and nor did they have foldback. However, those are niggles and did not really spoil the overall effect. All their voices, with the exception of Ringo, are spot on and they have all the little mannerisms and quirks off pat as well.

A couple of the main Beatles and Stones tribute acts incorporate a lot of multi-media on stage and stick to a rigid chronology to tell the story. What I liked about BeatleMania was that it was presented as just a normal Beatles concert, just as you would have seen it had you been to one of their shows in 1963. Halfway through the first half they did a quick change into the khaki safari jackets they wore for the Shea Stadium concert and after the interval went from Sergeant Pepper to jeans, and a white suit for Mr. Lennon, taking us to the end of the show – and the Beatles career. It was all kept very simple with the emphasis on the songs. And yes, you could almost imagine yourself in the vast screaming auditorium of the Hammersmith Odeon. Uncanny, not quite, but certainly an acceptable substitute for the real thing.

The evening was a lot of fun, visual shortfalls notwithstanding and, as I said, the four sounded fab. Those of us who lived though those heady days will never see their like again so I suppose BeatleMania was a lot better than nothing. Although the show attracted few under-fifties, it provided a sturdy Zimmer frame for those of us who chose to take a walk down memory lane.  ★★★★☆    Michael Hasted    10th February 2016