The Sessions, a live re-staging of The Beatles at Abbey Road, is to tour the UK next year. The tour, which features a cast of 45, will kick-off with a charity preview event at Liverpool’s Echo Arena on March 30.
Inspired by Here, There and Everywhere, the memoir of former Abbey Road sound engineer Geoff Emerick, each of the albums recorded at the studio will become a ‘Suite’ featuring seven vocalists (two ‘Johns’, two ‘Pauls’, two ‘Georges’ and one ‘Ringo’), while a further seven musicians will recreate the band’s instrumentation and a 21-piece orchestra will provide musical arrangements. The organisers have made a short film to explain how it’ll all work.
“This video is a small window into what we’re trying to achieve, and the passion and expertise in which we’ll do it,” says executive director Stig Edgren. ”With the world class team we’ve assembled, the clarity of our vision and the amazing venues we’ll be touring, we have an incredibly exciting opportunity to create the biggest, most spectacular, most musically authentic Beatles show ever. We wanted to give people a taste of the process by which we will bring The Sessions to life, and hope they see our commitment to delivering the finest Beatle production ever.”
“An incredible amount of research has gone into the show,” adds show producer Jef Hanlon. “We wanted to be as true to the original process as possible. All instrumentation, arrangements and vocals will be performed identically to the original recordings - there will even be seven singers to recreate the multi-tracked vocals pioneered by The Beatles. This show does not seek to be a look-a-like show, but rather a sound-a-like, with the singers being the best Beatles imitators in the world. It’s a must for Beatles fans of all ages.”
**The Sessions UK Tour
**Mar 30: Liverpool, Echo Arena
Apr 01: London, Royal Albert Hall – SOLD OUT
Apr 06: Brighton, Centre
Apr 30: Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena
May 04: - Nottingham, Capital FM Arena
May 06: Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena
May 07: Glasgow, The SSE Hydro
May 08: Manchester, Arena
May 10: Aberdeen, Exhibition & Conference Centre (AECC)
May 12: Leeds, First Direct Arena
May 13: Birmingham, Barclaycard Arena
May 14: London, The SSE Arena Wembley
May 15: London, The O2
