San Antonio Symphony Assistant Conductor Noam Aviel led the orchestra in a Pops program Friday night, "Magical Mystery Tour," featuring music of the Beatles.
San Antonio Symphony Assistant Conductor Noam Aviel led the orchestra in a Pops program Friday night, "Magical Mystery Tour," featuring music of the Beatles.
Photo: Courtesy Photo"Groovy."
Only in a concert reviving the 1960s would that word be uttered from the stage at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.
Four rock musicians and the San Antonio Symphony Pops orchestra brought back memories of the Beatles in a program titled "Classical Mystery Tour" for an audience of about 825 people.
Jim Owen on rhythm guitar (John Lennon), Ton Kishman on bass guitar (Paul McCartney), Tom Teeley on lead guitar (George Harrison) and Chris Camilleri on drums (Ringo Starr) didn't just play Beatles hits backed by the orchestra.
The quartet, in their hair styles, accents, mannerisms, vocal inflections and costumes, made the illusion entertainingly real.
The band members entered the stage wearing the Beatles' 1964 dark suits. But a few songs later, they switched to the loud-colored satin Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Band costumes.
"Are there any screamers here?" Kishman asked, in a practiced British accent.
Their banter with the audience was light and easy. Telling the audience they would be in the lobby after the concert, Kishman said they wanted to hear everbody's "funny accent."
Psychedelic lights on a screen behind the orchestra and the concert hall's ribbon lights circling the audience added to the experience.
But what everyone came for were the incomparable melodies like no band has ever produced.
The orchestra, led joyfully and gracefully by Assistant Conductor Noam Aviel, began the concert alone with an orchestral arrangement of "Let It Be."
The tribute band then entered with a set starting with "Got To Get You Into My Life," "It's Been a Hard Day's Night" and "I Saw Her Standing There."
"Yesterday" was sung by Kishman only, accompanied by the orchestra's string sections. Owen delivered a touching "Strawberry Fields Forever." "Penny Lane" was enhanced by the orchestra trumpet players led by Daniel Taubenheim.
The audience clapped along for "With a Little Help from My Friends." The strings played pizzicato for "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."
"Magical Mystery Tour" launched the concert's second half. The audience gleefully sang along with "Yellow Submarine." A series of songs, including "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," featured hits from the White Album, 50 years old this year. Teeley was exceptional in his guitar playing for "While My Guitar."
Of the 30 songs performed, the last three were encores: "Hey Jude" (with the audience waving their lit cellphones), "Twist and Shout" and "Can't Buy Me Love."
It's been a long time since a Pops concert was this much fun.
The program repeats at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Tobin Center downtown.
dhendricks@express-news.net
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