Help! Three – Yes, Three – Beatles Cover Bands Invade Beijing this Weekend
How big is Beijing? So big that it can host three Beatles cover bands in one weekend. And if you play your cards right, you can see all three over the span of two days beginning Saturday.
Start your Beatles lovefest Saturday at 7.30pm at the ThinkPad Space where you can watch France's premier Beatles cover band, the Rabeats play a one-night show.
Then hop across town to DDC to catch Beijing's expat sensations The Beijing Beatles, who conveniently begin playing at 10pm just as the curtain comes down on the Rabeats. The Beijing Beatles are gigging around at a relatively rare once a month or so, so grab this chance while you can.
After all that twisting and shouting, you'll be wanting a good sleep, so head home to rest up for your second evening of indulging your Beatles fetish.
Sunday morning, wake up late and start your day with a classic English Breakfast at Vineyard Cafe, after which you can drink away the afternoon. By nighttime it'll be time once again to do the hippy hippy shake as Beijing's Chinese entry into the Beatles cover band sweepstakes, the Beatloves, plays at VA Bar beginning at 9.30pm.
Here's what to expect from each of these three Beatles tribute bands:
The Rabeats
The Lowdown: French band in town for one night only as part of world tour. Allegedly long sets with up to 50 Beatles songs from the whole catalogue.
The Look: Outfits and hairdos authentically Fab Four. Lead man Sly could pass for Lennon if you sit in the cheap seats. Several members look like they rival the actual Beatles in age.
The Sound: Close to the real thing, though embellishments show they're willing to stray from the songbook. Drummer's solo (at 1:10 in video clip below) puts Ringo to shame.
In Concert: Check their rendition of Hey Jude at in 1:11 the video below:
The Beijng Beatles
The Lowdown: Beijing expat residents, led by authentically British frontman Ian Burns. Occasional gigs around town.
The Look: Hair and outfits generally Beatles-esque, though that depends on how much they're sweating.
The Sound: Cavern Club-era feel with songs from the entire Beatles catalogue. The most spirited of the three in concert.
In Concert: Check their cheeky rendition of Come Together at 6:20 in video below:
The Beatloves
The Lowdown: Local Chinese resident cover band, plays every Sunday at VA Bar.
The Look: First off, there's five of them, and one's a girl. And they're all Asian, so they're not exactly going for authenticity here. Front man could inspire legions of screaming teenage girl fans, but looks nothing like McCartney.
The Sound: Impressive musicianship mirrors actual Beatles recordings, though the Chinese-accented vocals stray far from the mark.
In concert: Check out their version of Get Back at the start of the video below:
Photos: Courtesy of the bands
