Los Angeles, CA (Top40 Charts/ Fab Faux) - John Lennon's 70th Birthday to be Celebrated at
Radio City
Music Hall by The Fab Faux. 'A Night In The Life' is Confirmed for
September 25th - Two Sets of John Lennon's Greatest
Music From The
Beatles and His Solo Career. Portion of Evening's Proceeds to Benefit
John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 'Spirit Foundation'.
On September 25th at legendary Radio City Music Hall in New York City, The Fab Faux will present 'A Night In The Life - A John Lennon 70th Birthday Celebration.' The special event will feature two sets of John Lennon's greatest music from The Beatles and his solo career. Expect a diverse set list, ranging from possible selections including Lennon's 'Instant Karma' to 'Jealous Guy' to 'Give Peace A Chance,' to The Beatles' 'Girl' and 'Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me & My Monkey.' For those of us who never got to see The Beatles in concert, we're fortunate to have The Fab Faux dedicate themselves to faithfully recreating some of the most extraordinary music ever written.
Tickets are available now, via https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1D00449A9A7338F5?artistid=1440194. A portion of the evening's proceeds will benefit 'Spirit Foundation' - a charitable foundation set up by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The concert will also feature The Hogshead Horns, The Creme Tangerine Strings and The Nutopia Choir. Special Guests will be announced soon.
The Fab Faux brings together the talents of five of New York's most respected musicians: Will Lee of Late Show with David Letterman, Jimmy Vivino, formerly of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, Rich Pagano, who has performed with Rosanne Cash, Ray Davies and released a solo effort Blurt Magazine described as 'one of the best albums of 2009,' Jack Petruzzelli, who has toured and recorded with Joan Osborne, Patti Smith and Rufus Wainwright, and Frank Agnello, whose musical credits include Phoebe Snow, Marshall Crenshaw and Joey Molland of Badfinger. Watch this extraordinary live, in-studio performance of The Fab Faux recreating 'Abbey Road', side two: https://www.vimeo.com/11237479
Recent press coverage includes a ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE pick, naming the band as No 18 on a list of the '40 reasons to get excited about music.' Rolling Stone also praised: 'sometimes a tribute band sounds better than the original.' In a live concert review, THE WASHINGTON POST's John Kelly blogged that the band had tackled 'the task of reverse engineering the Beatles' late catalogue, obsessively learning every guitar figure, every drum fill, every lush harmony, every tap of the cowbell and shake of the tambourine, until the songs could be played in concert.' THE HUFFINGTON POST raved: 'They do the one thing, no amount of officially sanctioned Beatles merchandise can do... bring The Beatles music back to life.'
The Fab Faux's Jack Petruzzelli recently appeared live on FOX-TV in Washington, D.C. to discuss the band's approach to recreating the albums of The Beatles, note-for-note. Watch the segment, here: https://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/entertainment/the-fab-faux-performs-live-beatles-music-052110
THE WASHINGTON POST - 'CLICK TRACK' POP MUSIC BLOG
In concert: The Fab Faux at Lisner Auditorium By John Kelly (excerpts)
About 15 minutes into the Fab Faux's show Saturday evening at Lisner Auditorium, bassist Will Lee said, "This is a song that if you do have a Beatles band, we suggest you play it" and then launched into a number that no basement amateurs could ever hope to pull off: "Strawberry Fields Forever." It was the sort of thing the Fab Faux specialize in: painstaking live recreations of songs the Beatles themselves never played before an audience. The Faux are actually five: five veteran New York studio musicians (Lee is in David Letterman's band) who in 1998 set themselves the task of reverse engineering the Beatles' late catalogue, obsessively learning every guitar figure, every drum fill, every lush harmony, every tap of the cowbell and shake of the tambourine, until the songs could be played in concert - without the mop top wigs and collarless suits that are the vestments of the typical Beatles tribute band. These are songs - "I Am the Walrus," "Dear Prudence," "Nowhere Man" - that reside deep in the marrow of music fans and the enjoyment from a Fab Faux show isn't just from hearing the Beatles' oeuvre live ("our classical music," Lee called it), it's also from wondering, as one does when watching a bunch of guys on unicycles spinning plates, can they pull it off? The answer at Lisner was yes. The marvel was that even though the concert required all the planning of a NASA space walk - a small army of roadies stood by to swap instruments in and out mid-number, like operating room nurses providing scalpels and retractors - the joy wasn't leached from the songs. Jack Petruzzelli and Jim Boggia traded off on keyboards and guitars, Boggia filling in for founding Fauxster Jimmy Vivino, who is on tour with Conan O'Brien. Guitarist Frank Agnello...had a nice turn on George Harrison's "Something." Most impressive was drummer Rich Pagano, who sang lead on many of the songs, added backing vocals on others and throughout the evening gave life to Ringo's deceptively tricky drumming and his loping fills. The band was augmented by the Creme Tangerine Strings and the Hogshead Horns. Lee was the ringmaster, flinging picks into the crowd like a human Pez dispenser, bouncing around the stage (even tripping and falling hard as he jumped over a riser) and putting down his bass at the end of "Strawberry Fields Forever" to grab some drumsticks and pound a tom tom next to Pagano. Wait: Extra tom tom pounding on "Strawberry Fields"? Yes, said Lee. An alternate version exists.
"How do we know that?" he asked. "Because we're nerds to the core."
Best-selling Rock Critic and Sirius Radio Host Dave Marsh, said:
"The Fab Faux have the hardest job in the history of R & R and they pull it off damn well. All rock bands want to be like the Beatles; these guys have the nerve to BE the Beatles. Amazingly, they're so good at it you learn new things about the originals."
The Fab Faux commemorated the 43rd Anniversary of The Beatles' performance on The Ed Sullivan Show with an appearance Late Show with David Letterman. Check out their fantastic recreation of 'I Am The Walrus' here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lknCpGbsJc
Recent interviews: The Fab Faux keeps Beatlemania alive and prospering:
https://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/movies/the-fab-faux-keeps-beatlemania-alive-and-prospering
Fab Faux bring Beatles tunes to New Brunswick
East Brunswick native Jack Petruzzelli plays keyboards & guitar
https://newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2009/0930/front_page/011.html
The John Lennon 70th Birthday concert marks The Fab Faux's return to Radio City Music Hall, following their sold-out 10th Anniversary event, during which they delivered a 36-song marathon performance that began with 'Magical Mystery Tour' and ended three hours later with 'Hey Jude' - with the audience of more than 6,000 people on its feet. Their 10th Anniversary 'Psychedelia!' concert was The Fab Faux's largest headlining concert ever, their largest-ever sold out concert, and their largest NY concert-to-date as well.
The Fab Faux are now in a league of their own, consistently performing music that The Beatles themselves never played live. Beginning with a pair of concerts at Webster Hall in late '07, the band has reached a new level of fan support as well as media awareness, with growing coverage including ABC-TV World News Tonight with Charles Gibson, NPR, Rolling Stone, Top40 Charts, Associated Press, Reuters Newswire, NY-1 News, The New York Times, NY Post, New Yorker, NY Sun, Hollywood Reporter, Time Out NY, The Nation and much more. An NPR Morning Edition segment praised the group as a "Collective that's about attention to detail." A Front Page feature in The Hollywood Reporter noted: 'After nearly 10 years together, (they) find themselves in the midst of a surprising leap from club fringe to center stage...' Critics have weighed in, and have described the band as nothing less than "Brilliant" (AP). A live concert review in THE NATION.com described their show as 'Almost magical.' Read Jimmy Vivino's interview with EXPRESS (a publication of THE WASHINGTON POST, here,) https://www.expressnightout.com/content/2009/04/around_for_another_revolver_fab_faux.php Read Will Lee's interview with GLIDE MAGAZINE here: https://www.glidemagazine.com/hiddentrack/interview-will-lee-of-the-fab-faux/
The Fab Faux celebrated their 10th Anniversary with a sold-out concert at New York's legendary Radio City Music Hall, and delivered a 36-song marathon performance that began with 'Magical Mystery Tour' and ended three hours later with 'Hey Jude' - with the audience of more than 6,000 people on its feet. Their 10th Anniversary 'Psychedelia!' concert was The Fab Faux's largest headlining concert ever, their largest-ever sold out concert, and their largest NY concert-to-date as well.
ABOUT THE FAB FAUX:
With a commitment to the accurate reproduction of The Beatles' repertoire, The Fab Faux treat the seminal music with unwavering respect, and are known for their painstaking recreations of the songs (with emphasis on the later works never performed live by the Beatles). Far beyond a cover band, they play the music of The Beatles so impeccably that one must experience it to believe it. Imagine hearing complex material like "Strawberry Fields Forever" or "I Am the Walrus" performed in complete part-perfect renditions; or such harmony-driven songs as "Because", "Nowhere Man", and "Paperback Writer", reproduced not only note-for-note, but with extra vocalists to achieve a double-tracked effect.
The musical virtuosity of The Fab Faux - in actuality five of the hardest working musicians in NYC - completely up-ends the concept of a Beatles tribute band. Far beyond being extended sets of cover versions, their astounding shows are an inspired re-discovery of the Beatles' musical magic, as The Fab Faux tackles the group's most demanding material live onstage in a way that has to be experienced to be believed.
Calling them, 'the greatest Beatles cover band - without the wigs,' Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke wrote, 'the Faux invigorate the artistry of even the Beatles' most intricate studio masterpieces with top chops and Beatlemaniac glee.' Approaching the songs with the intent of playing them live as accurately in musical reading and in spirit as possible, The Faux's breathtaking performances tend to dispel all concertgoers' previous notions of a Beatles tribute act.
The Fab Faux are a labor of love that was born in 1998 when neighbors Jimmy Vivino, guitarist/arranger for Late Night With Conan O'Brien house band the Max Weinberg 7 and Will Lee (who's played with all 4 Beatles), bassist for Paul Shaffer's CBS Orchestra on the Late Show With David Letterman kicked around the idea during an elevator ride in their NYC building. Rounding out the line-up are lead-singing drummer/producer Rich Pagano (Rosanne Cash, Patti Smith, Ray Davies, etc.), guitarist Frank Agnello (Marshall Crenshaw, Phoebe Snow, etc.) and ace keyboardist/guitarist Jack Petruzzelli (Joan Osborne Band, Rufus Wainwright). All five principals contribute vocals, making the Faux's soaring harmonies as resonant as their multi-instrumental chops, which are further enhanced by the four-piece Hogshead Horns (with Blues Brothers, Blood, Sweat & Tears and SNL band alums) and Creme Tangerine Strings.
The Faux's high energy shows have generated serious buzz not only at top NYC venues including The Beacon Theater, Hammerstein Ballroom, and Webster Hall - with Beatles fans, movie stars and world class musicians in attendance - but at major dates in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Park City, Utah (Sundance), Philadelphia and Toronto, among other locales. They've headlined 4 of the last 5 years at Liverpool's annual Beatle Week, playing before 35,000 Beatle fanatics - while in England, they had the rare honor of recording an original song at Abbey Road Studios - and also delighted the masses performing live on the Howard Stern Show. Benefit and corporate dates have included events for JVC, the N.B.A. and the Michael J. Fox Parkinsons Research Foundation.
'It's not just a cover band,' says the Faux's Pagano. 'This is the greatest Pop music ever written, and we're such freaks for it.' Imagine the instrumental complexities of 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'A Day in the Life' performed part-perfect with an orchestra. The lush, multi-layered harmonies of 'Because,' and 'Eleanor Rigby' sung note-for-note. The adrenaline rush of 'Helter Skelter' and 'Paperback Writer,' delivered spot on...
Visit www.thefabfaux.com
Upcoming concerts: https://www.thefabfaux.com/shows.php
News: https://www.thefabfaux.com/guests/FabFauxNews/
