(Dear Steve: Here is my review of last night's Pete Best Band show in Sellersville, Pa.---Andy Fusco)

A near-capacity crowd was transported in time by The Pete Best Band Friday July 2, 2004 at the Sellersville (Pennsylvania) Theater. The venue (built in 1894) and the act (a faithful audio reproduction of The Beatles circa 1961) combined to happily whisk the audience into yesteryear.

Like other Best tours of recent vintage, Pete's 2004 eastern U.S. outttings stay true to the concept of re-creating a typical Beatles stage show from the period August 1960 to August 1962, when Pete Best was the drummer for what would become the most famous band ever. Via small showrooms, solid black attire, stark period amplification and instrumentation, the group accurately attains the goal. However, this is no mere nostalgic tribute band: Best's combo is an impressively tight group of solid musicians and accomplished vocalists, who are genuinely dedicated to the music. And mind you, this is music which has been written about ad nauseum in all of those Beatle books, but which has almost never been heard live---unless you were lucky enough to live in Northern England or North Germany in about l961.

The Sellersville show was the second on this summer's U.S. tour. I had an opportunity to chat with the band's lead singer, Chris Cavanaugh, before the concert. He mentioned how pumped the band was by its opening night performance, an open air, free block party for about 3,000 patrons in downtown Springfield, Mass. the night before. He also joked about the oppressive Pennsylvania weather, nearly 100 degrees. Both the enthusiasm and the temperature impacted the Sellersville performance: the place was rockin' and by encore time, the audience sweat was flowin' like old times in The Cavern.

Tickets were $25.50. Doors opened at 7:30. The theater hold 325 people and was more than three-quarters full. Showtime was listed as 8 p.m. and the first song began at 8:04. There was no warm-up act and the band played with no breaks until 9:39 p.m. The 23-song set list is as follows:

Slow Down
What I Say
One After 909
Please Mr. Postman
P.S. I Love You
My Bonnie
Besame Mucho
Ain't She Sweet
Cry For A Shadow
September In The Rain
Roll Over Beethoven
Sweet Georgia Brown
Why
Some Other Guy
Money
Hello Little Girl
Like Dreamers Do
'Til There Was You
Long Tall Sally
I Saw Her Standing There
Twist And Shout
Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey
(encore) Johnny B. Goode

The group has the same line up as last year, but for Paul Patti taking the place of Dave Deevey on bass. Cavanaugh does most of the vocal leads, but each of the guitarists get to sing lead on one selection: Patti on P.S. I Love You, lead guitarist Mark Hey on Why, and rhythm guitarist Phil Melia on Sweet Georgia Brown. Brothers Roag and Pete Best drum, but neither sings lead or back-up. On three occasions during the evening Pete stepped from his drumkit in back to take centerstage and speak to the crowd. The first, between songs one and two, as to explain the material, saying we'd hear music from the Beatles' club act, from the Decca auditions, and from the Tony Sheridan recordings. Then between the 5th and 6th numbers, Pete talked about the Sheridan material, saying that he had never gotten paid when it was first recorded and released, but that he had gotten paid when it was re-released (presumably by Polydor in l970). The third time was between songs 18 and 19, when Pete came forth to draw and award a free plane flight from Air Iceland, which is sponsoring the tour.

I had never seen Best before and was pleasantly surprised by his playing and presence. In what may the most ironic twist in music history, Pete now drums a solid 4/4 back beat all show long. Brother Roag does most of the rolls and fills. And the notarious Pete Best sullen scowl is gone too; he spent much of the show smiling---like us---over just how good the music was, and how skillfully it was being performed.

Following the final number, Pete took a 15 minute break to change, and then came to the lobby for a meet and greet with about 100 fans. His recent book was not available for sale, but Pete graciously autographed just about anything else anybody wanted. Merchandising at the show was poor: only badly reproduced black and white photos, plus some key chains were available for sale. There were whispers that a Pete Best Band live CD will soon be available to sell to Pete's concert-goers. Hopefully, the rumors are true. Such a Best CD would be a nice companion to the Backbeat soundtrack as audio documentation of a time when The Beatles were on the eve on immortality.

One last thought: It was the second time in the span of about one year that an ex-Beatle drummer played an orate Victorian theater in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. Last June 30, Ringo's All-Starrs played the State Theatre in nearby Easton. Rumors the Jimmy Nicol's people are scouting the area for 2005 date are likely false.----Andy Fusco