The Beatles Flashback will be bringing the hits from one of music’s most iconic bands to Carson City for the Taste of Downtown. Jeff Shamus, known as Beatle Jeff, said he’s excited to be playing the event for the first time. They have played events here in the past, too. “We love Carson City,” he said.
FOCUSED ON MUSIC Beatle Jeff said the band is different from others because they focus on making the music as good as it can be. He said many tribute bands will mimic the costumes and mannerisms of the band, but with The Beatles Flashback, they want to play the tunes to perfection, as they sound on the albums. “We choose to do it differently where we’re going to entertain with The Beatles music instead of trying to be The Beatles,” he said. For them to achieve this sound, they have five members in the band. “In order to duplicate what they (The Beatles) did in the studio, we need five people to duplicate that,” he said. The bandmembers are all local, with some living in Carson City, Sparks, Incline Village and Stead. Beatle Jeff said he started this creation in the Bay area 16 to 17 years ago with other members, but he moved to Sparks 7 to 8 years ago and he recreated the same band over here. Now he has two separate bands playing the same type of show. He says it is like having two different casts for the same show. “If someone can’t make a gig, we get the musician from the other place and vice versa,” he said. SONGS The Beatles recorded more than 200 songs over 13 studio albums and more. The Beatles Flashback have a collection of about 70-90 songs that they play, which Beatle Jeff said should be familiar to most people. “You’re not going to find many people who will say they don’t like Beatle music,” he said. “It’s song after song that everybody knows. So, it’s kind of a different animal.” He said many fans will easily recognize favorites such as “She Loves You” or “Hey Jude.” He said there are many songs too that the crowd will get involved and sing along. “Then you play a song like ‘I am the Walrus’, and you get people singing along with it,” he said. “That’s kind of an obscure Beatles song, but a lot of people know all of the songs.” With a long set at Taste of Downtown, there’s a chance to hear many of your Beatles’ favorites. BEATLE JEFF Beatle Jeff said he was born too late to catch Beatlemania in person, but his love for the music came from his childhood listening to every record. He would learn to play songs on guitar, and he got the opportunity many years ago to audition to be in a cover band. “I didn’t think I was good enough to be in a Beatle band,” he said. After he made the band, he continued to improve and follow his dreams. “The joy is actually getting to play the music I love in front of people,” he said. He said he used to just play guitar at campfires in front of a few people. “Now I can go out and there’s hundreds, if not thousands of people loving the same music I love,” he said. “And I’m happy I can be the guy who can do the entertaining.” MORE ONLINE www.beatlesflashback.com
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