Guide
Since our review of the Candlelight tribute to Taylor Swift, Fever’s Candlelight concerts have grown into a truly worldwide phenomenon.
Tributes
Initially finding their niche in the UK concert scene with tributes to the world’s biggest pop stars, Fever’s Candlelight concerts now include the likes of ‘Candlelight: The Sound of UK Rap & Grime’ to ‘Candlelight: Rings and Dragons’, which promises the best of the soundtracks from Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.
While some may question how effectively songs by pop artists such as Bruno Mars and The Weekend (who are also the subject of Fever Candlelight tribute shows) can be translated to a string quartet arrangement, The Beatles are a natural choice for such a performance.
Guildhall
The usual choice for these concerts in Hull is at the Minster, but instead the performance was at the vast Banquet Hall in the city’s Guildhall. It was another fitting choice, with the flickering LED candles creating a mood of anticipation against the backdrop of the room’s iconic stained glass windows.
Opening the set was an early career classic, ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’. While not one of many tracks from their back catalogue that included an expanded orchestral instrumentation, the whirling violins highlighted how even the most simple of melodies can be enchanting.
They would quickly jump forward to some of the most creative arrangements The Beatles and George Martin would ever put together. Infamously not included on ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’, ‘Penny Lane’ and ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ would later become iconic reflections of Paul and John’s memories of growing up in Liverpool.
The jaunty vocal melodies and walking bass-lines on ‘Penny Lane’ were charmingly played, as well as even the memorable piccolo trumpet solo. Next up, ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ was perhaps the most challenging to strip back to a string quartet arrangement. But the Bloomsbury Music Group Quartet did the song justice, especially with the haunting cello parts from the original.
Either due to the difficulty of including it in the arrangement or time restraints, the quartet did not expand into the song’s avant-garde coda unfortunately, which would have been interesting to hear.
Surprisingly Successful Arrangement
A surprisingly successful arrangement was that of ‘Come Together’, which replaced the booming bass guitar with a more subtle cello performance and some creative harmonies applied on top by the others.
Following this were exquisite performances ‘Here Comes The Sun’, ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’ and ‘Help!’, which further demonstrated just how well-crafted and intricate even their most catchy songs are.
Perhaps the most anticipated Beatles song for a string quartet to perform would be ‘Eleanor Rigby’. However due to Paul’s register in the original, the viola and cello were utilised at times to perform his vocal melodies instead of the aching harmonies from the original George Martin score. The song was well-played, but lost some of the juxtaposition between the stabbing verses and mournful chorus lines, as well as some of the most memorable cello parts that make the song so heart-breaking.
Another song that didn’t quite deliver with the gusto of the original was ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’. The vocal melodies were delivered wonderfully across the quartet, but the Eric Clapton guitar solos didn’t quite translate to violin as well as hoped.
Chamber Music Setting
However, the minimalistic acoustic guitar of ‘Blackbird’ translated perfectly to a chamber music setting, before the quartet launched ambitiously into ‘A Day In The Life’. The dynamic opportunities from a string quartet were utilised to perfection, from the tender John Lennon verses and chirpy Paul McCartney section before rising incessantly for the infamous avant-garde glissandos.
Heading to the end of the night, inevitably ‘Yesterday’ would be played. The quartet faced the same challenge as with ‘Eleanor Rigby’ of the original song having such an iconic string quartet backing behind the vocals. However the performance of ‘Yesterday’ felt much more complete. The emotional vocal melodies were played beautifully while the rest of the quartet closely matched George Martin’s original score.
Finally, and inevitably, the audience were treated to triumphant renditions of ‘Let It Be’ and ‘Hey Jude’, with the iconic refrain of the latter a fitting end to the set-list.
Any live performance of The Beatles will always mean there are classic songs unfortunately not played. There could have easily been an extra hour filled with songs like ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, ‘Paperback Writer’, ‘Hello Goodbye’, ‘All You Need Is Love’, ‘The Long and Winding Road’ and countless more. Perhaps Fever might be tempted to put on a double-header of sets for a future Beatles tribute performance.
But on the whole, the audience were resoundingly pleased with the performance of the quartet who paid a fitting tribute to the Fab Four.
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