McCartney Times

THEY certainly don’t need any ‘help’ performing the hits from the fab four in the yellow submarine, as The Gazette speaks to ‘Paul McCartney’ AKA Steve White from the Bootleg Beatles.The Beatles tribute act are currently on their spring tour, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic band’s critically acclaimed album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. During this run of shows, the group will be performing at The Anvil on April 11, which will be the penultimate date in their UK tour.This incarnation of the mop tops is made up of Adam Hastings as John Lennon, White as McCartney, Stephen Hill as George Harrison, and Gordon Elsmore as Ringo Starr.Covering the full spectrum of periods in the Beatles’ famous and long-lasting history, from the early days of the band’s formation, to Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band through to their later hits including Abbey Road. The band make use of costumes that match the various time periods that the Beatles went through.Steve White, who takes on the role of Paul McCartney role in the tribute band, told The Gazette: “The costumes really help to illustrate the time period of the songs that we’re playing, there were so many distinctive styles that the Beatles had. It’s an easy way for people to get into the music.”Being a member of a tribute band of one of the most popular bands on the planet, they are expected to be completely true to the original. So much so, right-handed guitar player White had to relearn his instrument to keep in line with the left-handed playing of McCartney.Steve added: “Our audience members were always saying how much they enjoyed the act but that it was obvious that I was playing the guitar right-handed when Paul plays left-handed. We try to be as accurate as we possibly can, we want to make the audience think that we are the Beatles, at least for those couple of hours, so I effectively learnt to play the guitar again.”The task of being as authentic as possible is a daunting one, given the vast fan base and in-depth knowledge that the fans have. “There are some people out there with an amazing depth of knowledge of everything Beatles,” Steve explained.“I’m a big Beatles fan who knows quite a lot about them, but there have been several times when I’ve encountered a new piece of information that I’ve never heard of before, just from talking to the people who come to our shows.”

Source: The Bootleg Beatles don’t need any ‘help’ performing the fab four’s hits (From Basingstoke Gazette)