Sgt. Pepper’s — the aftermath
This had to be one of the most amazing nights of my career so far — in the sense that something historic was happening. I don’t think anyone has tried to perform Sgt. Pepper’s live like this, or done it so well. Here are a few comments by LA Times reviewer Ann Powers that I find very interesting:
“Friday, strutting through songs starting with “Magical Mystery Tour” and including the 16-minute medley from “Abbey Road,” Cheap Trick conjured the Beatles sound without getting buried by it. Zander’s delicate vocal on “She’s Leaving Home” and Carlos’ drumming on a Stonesy version of “Lovely Rita” (with Mann on lead vocal) responded to the originals instead of aping them. As the concept of rock as repertoire evolves, it can be beneficial for those paying homage to match reinterpretation with an equal amount of reconstruction. Cheap Trick was the right group for that.”
“Beatles songs are pop songs, and thus they’re up for grabs. But it’s also engaging to take on their albums as classics: the contemporary equivalent of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Cheap Trick and its collaborators approached “Sgt. Pepper” with that level of commitment. Yet they never abandoned their irreverence. Their performance was a fine reminder that rock’s rough edges are worth preserving too.”
We’re at a point now that the great rock repertoire is being interpreted by other great artists, and as major works. Ms. Powers is right that this is much different than Beatlemaina … this is art being interpreted by artists. In other words this is what my classical music colleagues and I do every concert. It’s taken for granted that I am re-interpreting Beethoven, not aping him (well I couldn’t possibly — he’s dead, and I don’t know what his music sounded like when he was alive).
That’s why the idea of “authentic” performance practice is in classical music is bogus … what artist worth their salt would want to ape another? “Authentic” performance is just another kind of recreation of a musical document. Often very engaging and creative … but so was Furtwängler! Being right at the cusp of this in rock “interpretation” shows how quickly and beautifully things change from the original source — it’s amazing.
Now some fun facts:
1. Geoff Emerick (engineer of Sgt. Pepper and our concert!) started at EMI under Walter Legge, famous classical producer and impresario (and husband of Elizabeth Schwarzkopf). He credits all of his rigor and standards as an engineer to his classical training, and lamented to me how rarely you find this kind of perfection and intensity in rock.
2. Al Jourgensen broke a guitar during his rendition of “She’s so Heavy” at the Bowl on Saturday. He’ll auction it off to support music education in Chicago. His greeting to the Bowl audience was priceless … “Hello old rich people!”
here we are after the show!
3. Robin Zander of Cheap Trick is one of the greatest singers I have worked with in any genre. In addition — I am a Cheap Trick mega-fan for life. They are the real thing.
4. Performing this concert — I really felt the epic release of rock, I guess because I was surrounded by rock stars. It happens far too rarely in classical music. Hopefully I can bring some of that energy to the table in my concerts ahead.
5. Backup vocals are fun. 
here are Robin, Rob Laufer, Aimee Mann, Joan Osbourne, and I rehearsing.
This was the coolest concert ever.