Beatlemania Unplugged, formerly known as The Deaf Aids, will be rocking Transfer Beach for the final LRCA Concerts in the Park show this summer.
Beatlemania Unplugged takes the amphitheatre Sunday, August 25 at 6:00 pm. They will be sharing the Beatles catalogue in chronological order, with facts and anecdotes tied in to tell the story of the Beatles early years success.
The band has five members: John Booth, (Lennon vocals and acoustic guitar), Charlene Booth, (McCartney vocal and percussion), Gary Atkinson, (Harrison vocal and acoustic guitar), Mark Williams, (bass guitar), and Rob Mitchell (percussion).
Beatlemania Unplugged began when John Booth’s previous band, Switch, broke up after 25 years. Booth then decided to play some John Lennon tunes and asked his wife, Charlene if she could sing harmonies. As the band grew, the Booths added the other members one by one.
“For a lot of people it brings back memories,” Booth said. “We can be doing our shows somewhere and we’ll see a group of older ladies singing away. We’ll come up to them after the show and they’ll say, ‘oh, we saw the Beatles in the cavern, we used to see them all the time before they were famous.’ You actually meet people out there who were closer to the group. A lot of people from Liverpool over our four years have spoken to us about how the Beatles influenced them in their home town, so it’s kind of neat.”
Four of five Beatlemania Unplugged members are from Ladysmith. They are eager to share the influence of the Beatles with their hometown. Beatlemania Unplugged has been a regular feature at the Beantime Cafe, and has played Concerts in the Park a few times before. This will be their final outdoor show of the season.
“We really do enjoy doing the Concerts in the Park. It’s a beautiful spot down there. People seem to enjoy the Beatles music. When we can look out into the audience, and see smiles on people’s faces, that’s what it’s all about,” Booth said.