Andre Barreau has not been to Tasmania before but is looking forward to his upcoming visit. He’s been told how lovely Tasmania is, that it is beautiful, quiet and has an English, indeed an old school feel, as though visiting England through a time machine.
Last year Andre toured Australia with the Bootleg Beatles tribute band. It was the first time that the boys have visited Australia, with dates in New South Wales, Adelaide Brisbane and Perth. Things were slow at first but quickly picked up and the boys had soon doubled their audience. Andre believes a lot of which is due to word of mouth and of course the affection felt for the original Beatles.
The Bootleg Beatles are probably the world’s first tribute band or has Andre says the ‘granddaddy of them all’ having been going strong for 30 years. When they first appeared on the scene it was difficult to get the costumes, guitars and other materials but now it is much easier for tribute bands to access top notch materials.
The boys themselves are massive Beatles fans and the production is meticulous in its accuracy. The wigs are made of real hair and very expensive, the costumes are also meticulously researched and realised.
The boys don’t do any ‘acting’ in their show but take us on a musical journey through the Beatles music focusing on the various eras of the Beatles career, including early Beatlemania, Shea Stadium in New York City and the Sergeant Pepper phrase as well as Abbey Road. Songs like ‘This boy’, ‘ I’ve got a feeling and ‘She loves you’ will be showcased,
Andre believes every time you go back to the songs and study them more, you discover, as Morris Glietzman said, ‘the magic spaces’, and always find new connection and meanings within them that prove what great artists the Beatles were, citing that no performance was exactly the same. Andre can’t praise the Beatles enough and says each new discovery is like looking through a microscope and discovering hidden treasure.
Discovery is an important word when it comes to this tribute act because although a sense of nostalgia brings to the shows those that grew up with their music also a new audience is attending the concerts to discover this group that was the greatest band of all time.
A high point for Andre was when he met his hero, and the Beatle he portrays, George Harrison. George was friendly and charming and spent 2 to 3 hours chatting to the boys, happily telling a few jokes and even enquiring ‘Whose the Bootleg Brian Epstein? Because he’s got all the money”’
They discussed guitars and chords and George even said Andre probably knew more chords than he did! Andre recalls during the meeting, rocking on his heels which caused George to say to him he had the ‘Liverpool Leg!’
You can see Andre and the Bootleg Beatles at The Country Club Showroom, Launceston on Friday 19 July and Wrest Point Casino on Saturday 20 July. Both shows starting at 8pm.
Paula Xiberras
