Beatlejuice
The Rochester Opera House will host a special evening with BeatleJuice at 8p.m. on Friday, March 16th. Sponsored by Spence & Mathews, The Shark Classic Rock and Frisbie Memorial Hospital.
This extraordinary tribute to one of the greatest bands in history is an all-ages show of impeccable Beatles classics and deep album cuts, led by Brad Delp of the multi-platinum band, BOSTON. "Have you heard the latest Beatles record?" This was the inscription under Delp's picture in his high school yearbook. It was in the summer preceding his freshman year that he joined his first band. This was the 1960’s and, not surprisingly, a good portion of the band's repertoire was made up of Beatles' songs. Delp continued playing in bands and eventually hit the big time as the lead singer for the band BOSTON, whose first album was released in 1976 and remains the #1 selling debut album ever in the United States.
"BeatleJuice is really coming full circle for me. Playing those songs evokes such great memories and reaffirms my admiration for The Beatles and their superb craftsmanship. This is a tribute to my musical heroes and an admittedly self-indulgent chance for me to Get Back in touch with my childhood," he said.
Don’t miss this chance to see a Rock N’ Roll legend amazingly recreate the timeless sounds of perhaps the greatest band of all time, the Beatles!
Celebrate New Year's Eve with Boston's Best Beatles Band
Featuring Brad Delp from the band, Boston
Read more: Celebrate New Year's Eve with Boston's Best Beatles Band
Issue Date: April 15 - 21, 2005
In some ways, Brad Delp is just like any other ’60s-era Beatles fanatic. There is no end to his knowledge of Beatles trivia. If you ask him how old he is, he tells you he will turn 54 on June 12, six days before Paul McCartney’s 63rd birthday. And he remembers exactly where he was when he first heard "Strawberry Fields Forever": in a parking lot at his high school in Danvers. He even recalls that the DJ wondered aloud whether it was a joke, "because it was sort of an unusual song."
Still, Delp is no ordinary Beatles fan. As the frontman for Boston, he has performed classic rock anthems such as "More Than a Feeling," "Amanda," and "Don’t Look Back" to capacity crowds in mega arenas across the world for the past 30 years. So you’ve got to wonder why he would want to play small-town gigs in Beatle Juice, a Beatles tribute band.
"It’s the only thing I can do that makes me feel 15 again," said Delp, sitting on the edge of a beat-up leather couch between sets at Johnny D’s, in Somerville, on a recent Saturday.
The Beatles have shaped Delp’s musical career from the very beginning. Soon after seeing the Fab Four on The Ed Sullivan Show, in 1964, he set off to Sears to buy his first electric guitar. "It cost $60, and it had an amplifier built into the case, which was a great thing," he says, "and it was all of five watts." The same year, he joined his first cover band — the Iguanas. "We all thought, ‘Well, let’s see, we’re 14; certainly by the time we’re 17, we’ll be famous,’ " he laughs.
Ever the devotee, Delp saw the Beatles perform at Suffolk Downs on the hot summer night of August 18, 1966. He showed up early and hopped the fence. Although the band was nowhere in sight, Delp was able to snag a autograph from Beatles roadie Mal Evans.
Years later, he was asked to sing the second verse of "Get Back" as a solo with Ringo’s All-Starr Band at Great Woods, but the evening got off to a bad start. Ringo introduced the singer to the audience as "Brad Dell," and when it was time for Delp to sing, he came in several bars late because he thought the band was going to play the song the same way the Beatles did, with a musical bridge in the middle. Even for a rock star, it seems, being a Beatles fanatic can have its embarrassing moments.
Delp has since worked on two music projects with Beatles producer George Martin, including a 1999 show with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra that Martin guest-conducted. Delp likes to talk about the time Martin took him and several other musicians out for dinner. He was "sort of the host of the meal," Delp says. "His hair is fairly long ... and he was surrounded by all of his disciples, and the first thing he said was, ‘Any resemblance between this gathering and the Last Supper is purely coincidental.’ "
Beatle Juice will perform at the Boston Marathon finish line on Monday, April 18.
Brad Delp Brilliant With Boston - Burning For The Beatles
by John Scott
In 1977, you couldn't pass the dial on any rock radio station and not hear "More Than A Feeling", "Peace Of Mind", or "Long Time". I was 16 years old then, and the band Boston was taking the country by storm. I remember dreaming, like most kids my age, of meeting my rock idol, Brad Delp. Well, I came pretty close.
I was at the Gannon Municipal Golf Course, which we called "Happy Valley" (I think it may now be a country club) in Lynn, MA. I was with my best friend, and we were both junior members at the course, enjoying summer vacation from high school, rockin' and rollin', trying to get girls and having the time of our lives.
We were on the first tee with no one ahead. Behind were two guys heading in our direction coming off the practice green. As my friend hit his ball, I looked at one of the guys coming toward us and thought he looked a bit familiar. I put my ball on the tee, looked back at him and said, "You look like the guy who plays drums in the band Boston." I would have known, having diligently studied every inch of that Boston album jacket. He replied, "Next time I see him, I'll tell him". I hit my ball with a horrendous trademark slice that went directly into the woods, creating that horrible knocking sound as the ball struck trees, broke branches and smashed limbs 200 yards deep. Sensing that this may be a particularly "long day," the guy asked if he and his partner could play through my friend and me, since they were in a hurry. The only thing on my mind was, "He knows this cool drummer.....Who is he?" We let them play through, and as this mystery man stroked his golf ball (no better than my shot, I might add), he then grabbed his clubs and briskly walked past me pointing to a faded, tattered concert t-shirt that faintly read "Foghat with Boston."
Stunned, I started following him, forgetting we offered to let them play ahead. As he tried to make his way down the fairway, with radar precision, I kept hitting my ball in his direction. By the end of the third hole, as if worn down by the torment of a teen or the constant dodging of my golf ball, Sib Hashian, drummer for the band Boston, asked me to play along.
I would later play 18 holes with him again that summer, and we became buddies. (Of course, none of my friends believed me.) Then we met again by chance, on a crowded frozen pond to play a game of ice hockey, which had to be cut short because of constant interruption by his fans. After he pulled away in his green Cadillac Seville, my friends seeing that I really did know him showed me a new respect, and a few girls who had never spoken to me before now suddenly did.