Steve Landes performs as John Lennon in the Beatles tribute band RAIN, performing Thursday and next Friday at the Hershey Theatre.
RAIN in concert as the Ed Sullivan-era Beatles.
From the teen-aged urgency of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" to the wizened philosophy of "Let It Be," the Beatles defined a generation.
The moment the Fab Four set foot on the stage of the Ed Sullivan Show on Feb. 9, 1964, with their matching suits and haircuts, pop culture was in for a wild ride.
You can take that ride Thursday and Friday next week at the Hershey Theatre, when the band RAIN performs a tribute to the Beatles.
One of the oldest Beatles tribute bands around, RAIN goes from that Ed Sullivan Show performance through the many different looks and sounds of the Beatles as the 1960s progressed into the 1970s, when the Beatles came to an end.
"We put you right there," says Steve Landes, who plays John Lennon. "It's funny how quickly the Beatles changed with the culture and how they changed the culture themselves."
We see them as mop-tops, then on tour at Shea Stadium, in "Sgt. Pepper" garb, and then into the era of "The White Album," "Let It Be," and "Abbey Road."
The show is two hours of Beatles music, complete with changes in costumes, hair and even eyeglasses.
"Every different era has its own challenges," Landes says. "A lot of people think the early stuff is simple, but it's not, really. The Beatles were great musicians. We've got to keep it really tight on stage and get that energy that was on the recordings. There's a tone to those early recordings, a very specific sound that's always a challenge to recreate." (You can check out their sound at their website, www.raintribute.com.) Landes believes the Beatles were always underrated as musicians.
"They were all individuals in this big machine," he says. "They sound so perfect they make it sound easy."
Vocally, the Beatles were pretty fabulous, too, according to Landes.
"Vocally, it's a real challenge with the tight harmonies. They are at the forefront of rock and roll singing but in two distinctly different ways. They could sing out rock and roll songs or they could be introspective."
RAIN plays a lot of big hits, of course, but they can never please everyone.
"It would take several days to play everything," Landes says with a laugh. "We'll do 'Hard Day's Night,' and someone will complain we didn't do 'Help.' Then we'll do 'Help' and someone else will complain we didn't do 'Hard Day's Night.'"
The band doesn't shy away from some of the band's more complicated songs, like 'Day in the Life." In fact, they've got the legendary fifth Beatle, their keyboard player, to help them out.
"We want everything to be live," Landes says.
The other members of RAIN include Joey Curatolo, who plays Paul; Joe Bithorn, who plays George, and Ralph Castelli, who plays Ringo.
Everyone in the band performed in "Beatlemania," which was a Broadway show from 1977 to 1979 and went on national tour after that.
Landes, who says he realized from age 10 that he sounded a lot like John Lennon, got into the show when he was 17.
He's been with RAIN since 1998. (The band, which started as a regular rock band in 1975, was originally called Reign. They changed the spelling to connect with the Beatles, who recorded a song called "Rain" on the B-side of the "Paperback Writer" single.)
" I believe great music deserves to be performed live," Landes says. "We have a lot of fun because we're all Beatles fans. For two hours, we celebrate this great band."
"RAIN -- A Tribute To the Beatles"
Thurs., Jan. 28, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., Jan. 29, 8 p.m. $25-$60
Hershey Theatre
15 E. Caracas Ave., Hershey
534-3405. www.hersheytheatre.com