It takes a special collection of musicians to even attempt to pay musical homage to one of the greats, let alone recreate a classic album in its 50th year.
When that band is the Beatles and the album Let It Be, then things just take on a whole new dimension.
Which is why the Australian Rock Collective – Kram (Spiderbait), Darren Middleton (Powderfinger), Mark Wilson (Jet) and Davey Lane (You Am I) – are the perfect, and quite possibly the only people who could pull it off.
After successfully recreating Abbey Road previously, the ARC now turn their attention to Let It Be this Friday, September 23 as part of the month long live concert series Night At The Barracks.
HEAVY caught up with Mark Wilson for more information.
“We are going to perform Let It Be, the final released Beatles record, live as it can be heard on the record,” he said. “We did a tour earlier this year where we performed that album. It was meant to be a 50th anniversary, but that got startled by COVID, so we played the 51st anniversary of it (laughs). We did so well we started getting people asking us to p[lay festivals and this particular new venture in Sydney Night At The Barracks, which is the old quarantine station and barracks up in Manly on Manly Head there. I have seen photos, and it’s a beautiful space and they are trying to activate it as a venue.”
In staying true to the masters who created the original music, Wilson says every attempt will be made to keep the material as close to the way it was recorded as they can.
“The way we look at it is almost like going through a cycle,” he explained. “We use the same equipment – the same guitars, the same amp and effects as close as possible with all the tones and everything to the original and try to recreate that experience of someone listening to the record but obviously performed live.”
In the full interview, Mark talks more about what to expect, introduces the rest of the band and what they bring, tells some of his favourite Beatles tales, discusses their contribution to music, playing an album start to finish that may have not been intended to be performed as such, future shows and more.
For more information visit https://nightatthebarracks.com.au/
