Experience the Beatles with Rain

Disclosure: I was provided complimentary tickets.

Experience the Beatles with Rain premiered in Honolulu last night at the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall, and I can easily sum up the show in one word - AWESOME!

Having grown up in the eighties, I was not very familiar with the Beatles.  Although I knew several of their songs, I wouldn't have considered myself a fan...until now.

The Beatles were brought to life by Rain (Steve Landes as John Lennon, Joey Curatolo as Paul McCartney, Joe Bithorn as George Harrison, and Ralph Castelli as Ringo Starr, along with Mark Beyer on Keyboard/Percussion), and from the first song to the last, I enjoyed every minute.

My favorite performance was Yesterday, during which the audience was encouraged to sing along.  Hearing an entire concert hall filled with voices singing Yesterday was a "chicken-skin" moment for me!

Another favorite performance was Twist and Shout.  The audience was asked to get up and dance, and dance we did! 

I didn't want the show to end.  Even after the Hana Hou, I wanted Rain to perform even more.

The entire show was pure entertainment.  Even when Rain was not performing, the audience was kept entertained.

While waiting for the show to start, and also throughout intermission, two large screens at each end of the stage displayed Beatles trivia questions.

Between set changes, archival footage was shown (Beatles concerts, historical events, old commercials), which I'm sure brought back a lot of memories for those who grew up in the sixties, during the height of the Beatles popularity.

I thought it was fun how during a few of the performances, black and white footage of hysterical, screaming fans were shown on the screens, and every so often audience members were shown on screen mixed in with the footage (my husband and I were shown on screen!).  I did think the screens were a tiny bit distracting, as sometimes I found myself watching the screens instead of the band, but overall I thought all the images and footage on screen complemented the performances nicely.

As a band, Rain is fantastic, comprised of artists who all play their own instruments and have great vocal talent. As the Beatles, Rain is outstanding.  Their appearance, sound, and mannerisms as the Beatles is quite amazing.

The saying is that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and in this case I think the Beatles would feel very, very flattered by Rain's tribute. 

It doesn't matter if you're young or young at heart; a die-hard Beatles fan or just a casual listener -  Experience the Beatles with Rain will have you singing and dancing along to some legendary songs.

Experience the Beatles with Rain is in Honolulu through May 19. For tickets and more information on, click here to visit the Broadway in Hawaii website.