The five-member group will perform in Northampton on Saturday night.
The Fab Faux will perform on Saturday at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton.It is a misrepresentation to refer to the Fab Faux as just another tribute band.
The five New York musicians are bringing their painstakingly accurate recreations of the Beatles extensive music catalog from the “yeah, yeah, yeahs” of “She Loves You” to the sonic wonders of “Strawberry Fields Forever” to the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Saturday night.
They’ve been called “the greatest Beatles cover band – without the wigs” by Rolling Stone magazine. And they’ve sold out Radio City Music Hall in New York City - twice.
They don’t’ try to look like the real Fab Four – especially when there’s more than four of them on stage – and their voices don’t sound like John, Paul, George and Ringo. But when you close your eyes and just listen to the music, you’d swear you were listening to an actual Beatles’ record, including their later works from “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” to “Abbey Road” that the Beatles never had a chance to perform live after giving up touring in 1966 because of the difficulty of recreating their increasingly complex songs on stage.
The Fab Faux are a labor of love that was born in 1998 when neighbors Will Lee, bassist for Paul Shaffer’s CBS Orchestra on the “Late Show with David Letterman,” and Jimmy Vivino, music director/guitarist for Conan O’Brien’s show and long-time music partner of Levon Helm, John Sebastian, Laura Nyro and Max Weinberg, kicked around the idea during an elevator ride in their New York City building. Rounding out the line-up are lead-singing drummer/producer Rich Pagano who has worked with Rosanne Cash, Patti Smith, Ray Davies and others; guitarist Frank Agnello who has accompanied Marshall Crenshaw, Phoebe Snow, to name a few; and keyboardist/guitarist Jack Petruzzelli who has worked with Rufus Wainwright, Patti Smith, Joan Osborne Band and other artists.
“It’s surprising that we make it work as much as we do. We all have different things going on, but we try to make the Fab Faux a priority. What helps is that some of us, especially the guys who work in television, know our schedules far in advance. And, we get rehired in some places that we’ve played before, so there are advance bookings that we can work around,” said Petruzzelli.
The band’s keyboardist and guitarist said none of the Fab Faux members had any idea the group would attract such a major following.
“I don’t think any of us 15 years ago envisioned the Fab Faux to be where we are today. We had no manager and it was all word of mouth. We were setting up our own equipment and doing a dozen to 20 gigs a year. Then, before we knew it, we were playing more and more gigs all over the country and even in different parts of the world. We look at it now and just shake our heads, and we’ve very grateful to be playing the music of the Beatles today,” said Petruzzelli.
Most devoted Beatlemaniacs will never forget the time they heard their first Beatles’ song, and Petruzzelli is no different.
“One of the great things about the Beatles’ music is that it draws in young kids today. We see people in our audience from 5 to 70 years old. And it’s a joy to see that. For me, I remember sitting in the back seat of my mom’s car and hearing ‘Hello, Goodbye’ and ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ and I was hooked. And, from that moment on, I knew I wanted to play music,” said Petruzzelli.
“I can still remember having a bunch of albums when I was a kid like ‘Monster Mash,’ and going to visit my cousin and trading him that album for the American version of ‘A Hard Day’s Night,’ he added.
While the Fab Faux are famous for performing theme nights such as the “Psychedelic Years” or an entire album like “Rubber Soul,” Saturday night’s concert is being called a “mixed bag of Beatle favorites” from their early days of creating the Merseybeat sound to their final troubled days recording such albums as the “White Album” and “Let It Be.”
“It’s our 15th anniversary as the Fab Faux and I hope we get another 15 years. We’re sill loving it as much, if not more, than when we started. We’re all like family now and have been together through marriages, births and deaths in our families,” said Petruzzelli.