Live At the Hollywood Bowl | Page 2 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

meanmistermustard said

If they are going to release it please dont give us just the 30 minute LP only, the complete ’64 concert and one complete ’65 show would fit easily onto a single cd.  

Did their setlist change considerably between those two years? I wouldn’t want to see a lot of duplication on such a release (even though it’s only theoretical).

Interesting. So “Yesterday ” and “If I Needed Someone ” weren’t added until ’66, then?

Los Angeles Confidential interview with Dave Stewart about the Hollywood Bowl show in anticipation of the anniversary concert.

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In response to my post about the 50th anniversary celebration here, I figure it’s more appropriate to post a review here than at the news thread.

Nothing awesome happened. At all.

This is an exceptionally kind review of the show. But IMO, it was, in the words of other concert goers posting at the Hollywood Bowl Facebook page and tweeters at large, more akin to a high school talent show than a celebration worthy of The Beatles. And I think the Bowl knows it, because they haven’t bothered to showcase either Friday or Saturday night in a post.

It makes me wonder if Bob Eubanks and Dave Stewart couldn’t gather the talent they were hoping for, or people bailed. Because there’s no way Dave Stewart actually set out to feature members of his family for a show of Hollywood Bowl caliber. Or for Billy Ray Cyrus (Miley’s dad, of “Achy Breaky Heart” fame) to be the headliner! 

There were highlights, such as Vanessa Amorosi – one of the few who seemed to be actually into the material – but she wasn’t enough to hold down the entire show. I even liked Dave’s kid Kaya’s rendition of “Don’t Let Me Down ,” though some of the lyrics seem fairly inappropriate for a 14-year-old. And Liv Warfield, who was lackluster during the first half of the show faithfully replicating the Beatles’ Hollywood Bowl setlist, suddenly woke up for “Come Together ” during the second half. And I loved the production design.

But the low points far overshadowed the few highlights. The fact that it was a tribute show wasn’t the problem. Even having unknowns wouldn’t haven’t been a problem in a far less historic venue. But for a celebration of this size, most of us (particularly those who paid substantially more than I did) were expecting some big names, something akin to the Grammy tribute. On top of that, most of the performers seemed uninterested or unfamiliar with the early material, barely giving it life. Stewart’s kid Django is actually a decent singer that I’ve seen perform with his quirky former band The Midnight Squires in a smaller venue, but he doesn’t have the charisma to handle a mainstream Beatle show of this size, and his one dance move wasn’t going to cut it. Last night, Michelle Branch (named after the Beatles song) performed “Eleanor Rigby ,” and she absolutely murdered it with flat notes. Overall, the worst moment was the band having to transpose “Hey Jude ” several keys down for Billy Ray Cyrus, who still had trouble hitting the notes. The song became a funeral dirge. Edit: Here’s a video.

No Beatle showed up, but producer Bob Eubanks read a greeting from Paul at the beginning of the show. And it’s just as well they didn’t, as I would have been embarrassed for them. They certainly deserved much better. 

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The LA Times wrote on the fallout.

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