John, Paul, Ringo and George stopped by Syracuse Friday night.

No, the Beatles weren’t able to reunite under the marquee of the Landmark Theater, but Classical Mystery Tour was an experience as unique as one of the foursome’s coveted concerts.

The show merged a Beatles cover group and the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, producing a performance that could exhilarated both die-hard Beatles fans and casual fans of music.

It was a typical greatest hits concert and everything but a typical concert at the same time. The glory of a full orchestra met the phenom of the Beatles. Musically, it was groundbreaking, something that didn’t prevent the show from rocking.

The setup was atypical for a rock ‘n’ roll concert. The orchestra was placed toward the back of the stage in formal attire with all the traditions and nuances of orchestral performances, including a long-haired conductor wearing a tuxedo jacket with tails. In front of them stood a Plexiglas wall and a small area for the replica Beatles’ set, two guitars, a bass, a piano and a drum set.

While conductor Martin Herman, who arranged the orchestra’s music, found many interesting places to utilize his string and horn sections, there were times when the orchestra, with little to play, seemed restless during the rock ‘n’ roll numbers.

Besides this minor drawback, the sound was phenomenal. The group was prepared to pump out crowd pleaser after crowd pleaser, pulling out Beatle classics like ‘Penny Lane,’ ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Hard Day’s Night,’ while the Lennon and McCartney impersonators each took a turn playing their solo material.

Once the orchestra had settled into its role of accentuating the Beatles’ music, the audience knew what to expect. And in the second act, the performers delivered.

The highlights included conductor Herman crossing the barrier and taking a seat behind the piano for ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps,’ and one of the pieces where the orchestra and band were in masterful interaction: ‘Live and Let Die.’ It was hard to outdo the first act finale, ‘A Day in the Life,’ which brought the audience to a roaring standing ovation.

Whether you could read music or play tabs (or in many cases, neither) the show had something to offer. The overture was a delightful combination, and recombination, of an assortment of Beatles’ hits, with an orchestral twist.

As a veteran Beatles’ group, Classical Mystery Tour knew when to play a little John and when it was time for a Paul McCartney hit. And of course they did not forget Ringo Starr’s claims to fame, ‘Yellow Submarine’ and ‘With a Little Help from My Friends.’

The band members sounded like the Beatles, with fake British accents by a group of Americans, and looked like them, changing costumes to signify the phases the actual foursome went through. Their experience – three of them have played their Beatle in previous productions of ‘Beatlemania’ – came through with crisp and accurate renditions of the classics that America just can’t get over. The only moment they veered from their professionalism was a brief plug for their CD being sold in the lobby.

Jokes were made about the age of the crowd. As one of the band members said in between songs, ‘If you remember the ’60s, you probably weren’t there.’ And the Syracuse audience ate it up, giving the performers at least four encore calls, two of which were answered.

It is a shame the event was not more publicized and so few students were able to take a trip back to the ’60s. Nothing may compare to seeing the actual group that revolutionized the global music scene, but Classical Mystery Tour sure got close. It was with a little help from their friends, the Syracuse Symphony, but it was truly original.

Published on February 25, 2007 at 12:00 pm