The opening strains of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” at the FoxCities Performing Arts Center on Friday, May 18, 2012 immediately transportedme back to my junior year in college, when the Beatles were just arriving onthe scene in the United States. I was serving as one of the two residentassistants on a floor full of freshmen female students. My room was at the oppositeend of the hall from the other RA. From a distance, I could hear that songbeing played over and over and over and over. Carol would sometimes come downto my room to get away from “the song.”The remarkable tribute group RAIN, composed of Mac Ruffing (Paul), Tom Teeley (George), Chris McBurney (Ringo), and Jim Irizarry (John)are fantastic musicians in their own right; but when they are “channeling” theFab Four, they are something else. The string of familiar Beatles songs,which I could pretty much sing along with, included: "This Boy," "I Saw HerStanding There," "A Hard Day’s Night," "Yesterday," "Daytripper," "Eleanor Rigby,""Strawberry Fields," "When I’m 64" and "Let It Be." The audience was very participatorywith much clapping and singing along, and the energy in the room was absolutelyelectric. From my vantage point, I could see the main floor audience, oftenstanding and swaying back and forth to the music.
The group made special mention of the “20 and under” fans thatwere present, and urged them to pass their love of Beatles music along to othersin that age group. Many of the rest of us in the audience were there when theBeatles came across the pond, and took the U.S. by storm in the mid-1960s.
After absolutely deafening applause, the group came back outand sang "Hey Jude," then finished up with a heartfelt rendition of "Give Peace a Chance."Special note must be given to Mark Lewis, founder and creative genius behindthe group. It’s a night I won’t soon forget, and I find myself humming Beatlesfavorites as I am writing this.
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