When artists release an album (or a CD), its usually given a name. In 1968 the Beatles released a double album that was significant for its lack of a title, or any graphics other than the band’s name. It came to be known as the White Album, and we were at QPAC last night to see the sold-out White Album Concert, featuring Chris Cheney, Tim Rogers, Phil Jamieson and Josh Pyke.
Musical Director Stewart D’Arrietta performed a similar role when actor John Waters performed the Glass Onion shows a few years ago – a musical tour through the life of John Lennon, and he was clearly well qualified to put the White Album concerts together. The Beatles never performed the White Album publicly – legend has it they were barely on speaking terms through its recording, often working in different studios to complete it – and it took an impressive lineup (3 brass, 5 strings, 2 drummers, 2 keyboardists, 2 guitarists and bass) to recreate it musically last night. But what a sound. And vocally, Messrs Cheney, Rogers, Jamieson and Pyke alternated throughout the evening, combining for only Ob La Di and the encore (Revolution and Why Don’t We Do It In the Road).
Josh Pyke was a revelation – I’m not a fan but his solo rendition of Blackbird (he played the acoustic guitar parts) was superb. Jamieson was kind of non-descript, bringing a sort of faux “lizard king” theatrical presence to his songs. Tim Rogers is certainly one of a kind, and he was absolutely the most animated and theatrically engaging player of the night.
But Cheney….. Chris Cheney was superb.
Getting the good rock songs certainly helped, and his opening with Back in the USSR was insanely good. But three-quarters of the way through the first act (album) his rendition of While My Guitar Gently Weeps rightly earned a standing ovation. It was insanely good – vocally, and musically the guitar solo just blew everyone away. Eric Clapton was (uncredited) responsible for the original solo, and I think even he would have been impressed by how it was performed last night.
Rogers took Revolution in a faithful performance – all the instrumentation was faithfully brilliant – but none of his songs lifted the way Cheney’s did.
It made us wish that the Beatles themselves, somehow, somewhere, could have performed more of their work in a modern acoustic/technological setting. George Martin’s string and brass arrangements were brilliant, and performed superbly by the players on the night. Lyrically, musically, the Beatles were on their own. They blazed trails that have been the foundation of popular music as we know it. And just for a little while last night one could almost close your eyes and believe it was happening again for real.