Lasting Beatles Tunes Survive Uneven Delivery

It was 1964 all over again Friday night at the Hollywood Bowl’s opening-night gala. Hip-huggers, bell-bottoms and love beads were sprinkled through the crowd (which nearly filled the venue), the stage was decorated with large flower-power symbols and the box-seat sections sported brightly colored tablecloths, Day-Glo tumblers and lava lamps.

The ambience, in other words, had been carefully established for an evening celebrating the August 1964 appearance at the Bowl by the Beatles, with a concert of music conducted by the legendary quartet’s producer, George Martin.

It’s hard to go wrong with a feel-good atmosphere and a collection of some of the finest music to emerge from the rock era. But the earnestness of the intention didn’t always make it through to the delivery of the music.

Many of the songs were sung by Brad Delp (of the group Boston), Trevor Rabin (of Yes), Adam Duritz (of Counting Crows) and Peter Case, as well as the reorganized Bangles. Accompaniment was provided by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and a rock-rhythm section (featuring overamplified drumming from Stewart Copeland, formerly of the Police).

On the upside, there were numerous passages, especially those originally employing massed instrumental sounds (the soaring crescendo from “A Day in the Life” was a good example) that captured the buoyant musical spirit of the Beatles’ recordings.

But in too many other cases, the performances paled alongside the originals. Often the pieces were presented as instrumentals (“Yesterday” featuring English and French horn solos, and “Because” as a violin solo), seriously diluting their impact. And the Bangles were musically superfluous, nearly butchering the melody of the lovely “In My Life.”

Ultimately, however, the most powerful evidence of the strength and durability of the Beatles was the simple fact that--despite the many flaws in the presentation--the music still triumphed.