October 9 is seemingly an ordinary date - nothing marked on the calendar, no holiday or historical event to speak of. Yet if you’re a music fan or more specifically a Beatles fan that date means a great deal. You see, John Lennon was born on that date in 1940. He would have been 72 on Sunday.
To celebrate John’s birthday, the Wolf Den, maybe purposefully, maybe co-incidentally, scheduled a tribute to the rock legend. Tragically taken from us nearly 32 years ago, many rock fans obviously never got the opportunity to see this master musician live. Fortunately a man named Peter Gendron has devoted himself to recreating the John Lennon experience and performed in Uncasville last night as “Lennon – Live”
NK and I arrived right at showtime and lucked out with two front row bar spots. The Den was well attended with plenty of die-hard Beatles fans. Gendron, was a spot-on likeness to Lennon, both vocally and in appearance with his signature round eyeglasses and Beatles haircut. He even donned military fatigues and later a ‘New York City’ shirt that Lennon was often seen wearing in old concert/interview clips. So good was his resemblance that if you closed your eyes, you’d swear you were hearing the real Lennon. So good was the resemblance that if you blocked your ears, you’d swear you were looking at the 40 year old Beatle. If you closed your eyes and blocked your ears, well you missed a very good show.
The set list was comprised of Beatle tunes as well as Lennon’s solo stuff. “Come Together” and “Imagine” started the show and were alone with the trip. Then hearing Gendron rip into “Well we all shine on...like the moon and the stars and the sun”...was a true thrill. Hearing less mainstream songs like “Dear Prudence”, “Woman” and “Mind Games” only heightened the experience. Gendron was very capable on both guitars and the keys and was backed by a solid core of musicians which included a 3 horn section. “(It’s Just Like) Starting Over” was very popular with the crowd including a favorite mainstay old couple who were dancing in the aisle.
Celebrating Lennon’s 72nd, the night’s highlight had to be when Gendron fittingly belted out “You say it’s your Birthday, well it’s my Birthday too yeah!!” The song was very well done and got the crowd up and moving, followed shortly by a rocking version of “Twist & Shout”.
October 9, 2011 was no ordinary date.
Randall
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