A Beatles revival tribute band from Buenos Aires, Argentina that currently calls Parksville home will be performing at The Shady Rest in Qualicum Beach Saturday, August 1.
Now & Then has been billed as the next best thing to the English rock band that became arguably the most successful act of the 20th century.
The four musicians arrived in Parksville May 12 and since then they have been busy putting their stamp on the repertoire of the legendary rock group and creating their own Beatlemania.
The young men who make up the group had never been out of their native country before and after several weeks of touring the province they have been getting rave reviews about their Beatles tribute show.
Their manager Gayna Thompson hopes it will be the start of a successful career for her Fab Four.
Thompson, the owner of the Chuffin Café in Parksville, made all the arrangements to bring the band to Canada back in the fall of 2014.
Ever since they arrived, Thompson has been on the go booking gigs for the band all over Vancouver Island and B.C.
Their whirlwind tour has seen them perform a few times in Parksville already and after their upcoming show at the Shady Rest they will play at the Parksville Legion August 15.
On August 20 they head to Liverpool, England where John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr started and soon transformed the world of popular music.
The group from Argentina won the battle of the bands in the 14th Latin America Beatle week in Buenos Aires.
Winning the prestigious contest which gathers the best South American Beatle tribute bands gave them their spot at Beatle Week in Liverpool and the four-some are just a few weeks away from one of the most epic gigs of their musical careers.
Thompson said they will play 10 shows in Liverpool and she agreed that performing on the most important stage any Beatles fan has ever known, playing Beatles music is a dream come true for the 20-something guys.
The band mates are hoping Beatle week will be reminiscent of what the original Beatles members experienced back in the 1960s.
Judging by how the fans have reacted to them in Canada, Thompson said she sees a bright future for them.
“I can’t say enough good things about these boys. People don’t know about them but once they go to the show and see them perform, the audience loves them. They are so good. People have been saying that they are the next best thing to the real Beatles … it is good to hear,” she said.
Thompson admitted she had never heard about the group until she discovered them while searching for a Beatles tribute act on the Internet.
She said they had the best harmonies she had ever heard and she knew she had to bring them here.
Thompson said not only do the guys look the part, the talented musicians also sound just like the Fab Four.
Back in Argentina two of the band’s members had been awarded “Best Guitar player” for three consecutive years.
