Cirque du Soleil Presents The Beatles: LOVE at The Mirage, Las Vegas, NV, May 11, 2022

Per Wikipedia - in a theater built just for this event - Cirque du Soleil (CDS) presents LOVE, a spectacle that "combines the re-produced and re-imagined music of The Beatles with an interpretive, circus-based artistic and athletic stage performance." The online encyclopedia couldn't have described it better.

In 2000, CDS co-founder, Guy Laliberté and his friend - the late, ex-Beatle, George Harrison - initiated discussions that resulted in this long-running, ninety minute adaptation of The Beatles' music. Unfortunately, Harrison passed away in 2001, but talks continued with Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and the estates of both John Lennon and Harrison. In the end, they brought the production to the stage in 2006 at The Mirage casino-hotel in Las Vegas where - to this day - it's been the only place in the world you can see the wild extravaganza.

The carnival atmosphere includes outlandish costumes, a lot of dancing and truly dangerous feats. If a  performer falls it could easily be the end for them because there are no safety nets or chains connecting them to the ropes and pieces of apparatus they're climbing high above the stage.

There are large video screens featuring The Beatles performing along with psychedelic cartoon images of them while the floor show is taking place. I sometimes found the videos distracting. Too often - especially early in the performance - I watched what the Fab Four were doing on the screen instead of focusing on the live action on stage. There was just too much going on. Although a bit overwhelming, the choreography is outstanding, and the amount of hard work put into each scene is truly amazing and often difficult to perform.

The soundtrack was produced by George Martin and his son Giles and largely includes songs from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band through the end of the group's career. Most of the songs used in the show are quite famous, original works by The Beatles. Some were played in their entirety and others were re-edited into mashups.

For example, the Martins took the opening chord from "A Hard Day's Night" and paired it with Starr's drum solo from "The End" to hide the edit in the original track his solo was lifted from. They also took the bass and drums from "Tomorrow Never Knows" and played them behind "Within You Without You" to create an updated version that is the best example of the producers finding different tracks that fit together well.

The only new music recorded for the program was the score for a string section George Martin composed for an early, acoustic version of Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

Visually, the highlight was "Help" where performers executed perfect half-pipes on rollerblades instead of snowboards.

Overall, LOVE is not only artistic, it's a lot of fun, especially if flamboyant pageantry is something you crave. But - more than anything else - hearing the band's music on a superlative sound system such as the one employed by the CDS team made me realize how much I miss The Beatles.

If you're ever in Sin City, go see LOVE. It's really something to behold and it will keep you from losing a bunch of Franklins at the casino. Tickets will still cost you a couple of bills, but at least this way you'll actually get something in return for your money.

Comments

Post a Comment

WHAT'S HOT TODAY!

Slower Than Slow: 16 RPM Records

Image
Have you ever heard of a long forgotten vinyl format, the 16 2/3 RPM record? They were half the speed of the 33 1/3 RPM albums that were the traditional standard for recorded music. Most record players in the 1950s and 1960s came with a speed setting to play these long forgotten discs that were considered novelties even during the years they were available. Because most, but not all, 16s had big holes and were 7" in diameter many of them were mistaken for 45 RPMs and at that size the speed allowed for up to 20 minutes of playing time per side. However, there was no true standard size and they were also manufactured to be 9, 10, or 12 inches in diameter, and these larger records played even longer. Just like the other speeds and formats 16s could be played one record at a time or stacked on a changer for continuous play. Radio stations often used the discs for pre-recorded radio shows containing interviews, dramas, and documentaries. More frequen...
Read more

The Band - Christmas Must Be Tonight (1977)

Image
In 2006 Hall and Oates released Home For Christmas , their one and only holiday album, an extremely good set of music that immediately became one of my favorite seasonal listens. I wrote then that I was stunned at how many overtly religious songs the famous duo put on the the disc considering the very politically correct climate of the new millennium. One of them was a cover version of a song that alluded me for almost thirty years, "Christmas Must Be Tonight." I liked the new, upbeat track sung by Daryl Hall and it made me go out and search for Robbie Robertson's never-to-be classic. Sung by Rick Danko, it appears on the great American band's last album, Islands (1977). It's a surprise that a group whose members were not known to have any specific or powerfully strong religious beliefs would release a song that tackled the subject of Jesus's birth as blatantly as our most loved Christmas carols. It's not about a reckless reinde...
Read more

The Beatles - Christmas Messages (1963 - 1969)

Image
For seven straight years beginning in 1963 - even before they were famous in America - The Beatles recorded annual Christmas messages exclusively for their fan club members as a holiday thank you. They were issued on seven-inch, vinyl records that were very thin, very bendable, and easily damaged. These flexi-discs, as they were called, could not be stacked on record changers. Over the years the tracks have been bootlegged in countless ways, and until a few years ago the only legal release was sent to fan club members in 1970 on 33 RPM vinyl records after the boys from Liverpool went their separate ways. The LP cover shown here is from that album. Finally, in 2017, a limited edition box set  on colored vinyl was released and is now an expensive collector's item. Many Beatles fans managed to hear these records over the years, and with the Internet being what it is, there are several websites where anyone can easily listen to all of them.  Archive.org ...
Read more

Chicago: An Album By Album Analysis Of The Terry Kath Era (1969 - 1977)

Image
The original lineup of Chicago has always been one of my all time favorite bands. My affection for this great horn band is such that I want to discuss all of the albums they recorded before Terry Kath's unfortunate and accidental passing. Their debut album is now forty years old, and it's followup is not far behind, yet their music endures to this day. * * * * * Everyone Must Own * * * * Excellent * * * Good * * Fair * Poor * * * * * Chicago Transit Authority (1969) - Whether they were playing screaming psychedelic hard rock, jazz, blues, or love songs, everyone in the band proved they were worthy of the huge mass success that followed CTA 's release. The band's ability to play anything and play it well is the hallmark of their debut album. The stars are Robert Lamm, Terry Kath, and the horns, and even Peter Cetera demonstrates he can be a rock and roll animal when he wants to be. The standout tracks are Lamm's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It...
Read more

The Chieftains With Jackson Browne - The Rebel Jesus (1991)

Image
"The Rebel Jesus" is a Christmas song composed by Jackson Browne and performed with The Chieftains, the eclectic, veteran Irish folk band on  The Bells of Dublin,  their 1991 holiday album. Browne wrote the song specifically for his guest appearance on this record. The singer-songwriter, who is deservedly in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, can be a bit preachy when he wants to be, and he is again here, but no one can dispute what the man is saying.  The last two verses are the key to the song. Browne points out that people often feel more generous at Christmas so they'll give to those who were less fortunate than themselves during the holidays. But, if anyone tries to dig deeper and root out the poverty that envelops the downtrodden they are often scorned like Jesus was. This message is coming from a man who is admittedly a "heathen and a pagan," but on this occasion he is "on the side of the rebel Jesus." At the same time Browne doesn't want to sp...
Read more