The Fab Faux to Bring The Beatles to Life at The State Theatre, 2/23

By: Feb. 06, 2013
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The most musically satisfying Beatles tribute band and State Theatre audience favorite features TV star/musicians Will Lee from The Late Show with David Letterman and Jimmy Vivino of Conan O'Brien's house band, plus Rich Pagano, Frank Agnello and Jack Petruzzelli. The Fab Faux, featuring the Creme Tangerine Strings & Hogshead Horns, promise to bring you a concert that will take you "there and back" with a musical trip spanning the career of the Beatles! This is THE band to see if you want to know what it might have been like if the Beatles toured behind their later albums.

Show time is Saturday, February 23 at 8 PM. Tickets are $60 & $50 and can be purchased by visiting The State Theatre Box Office, 453 Northampton Street, Easton, by calling 1-800-999-STATE, 610-252-3132 or online at www.statetheatre.org.

With a commitment to the accurate reproduction of The Beatles' repertoire, The Fab Faux treat the seminal music with unwavering respect, and are known for their painstaking recreations of the songs (with emphasis on the later works never performed live by the Beatles). Far beyond a cover band, they play the music of The Beatles so impeccably that one must experience it to believe it. Imagine hearing complex material like "Strawberry Fields Forever" or "I Am the Walrus" performed in complete part-perfect renditions; or such harmony-driven songs as "Because", "Nowhere Man", and "Paperback Writer", reproduced not only note-for-note, but with extra vocalists to achieve a double-tracked effect.

The musical virtuosity of The Fab Faux - in actuality five of the hardest working musicians in NYC - completely up-ends the concept of a Beatles tribute band. Far beyond being extended sets of cover versions, their astounding shows are an inspired re-discovery of the Beatles' musical magic, as The Fab Faux tackles the group's most demanding material live onstage in a way that has to be experienced to be believed.

The Fab Faux are a labor of love that was born in 1998 when neighbors Jimmy Vivino, Music Director/Guitarist for The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien and long time music partner of Levon Helm, John Sebastian, Laura Nyro and Max Weinberg (to name a few), and Will Lee (who's played with all 4 Beatles), bassist for Paul Shaffer's CBS Orchestra on the Late Show With David Letterman kicked around the idea during an elevator ride in their NYC building. Rounding out the line-up are lead-singing drummer/producer Rich Pagano (Rosanne Cash, Patti Smith, Ray Davies, etc.), guitarist Frank Agnello (Marshall Crenshaw, Phoebe Snow, etc.) and ace keyboardist/guitarist Jack Petruzzelli (Rufus Wainwright, Patti Smith, Joan Osborne Band, etc.). All five principals contribute vocals, making the Faux's soaring harmonies as resonant as their multi-instrumental chops, which are further enhanced by the four-piece Hogshead Horns (with Blues Brothers, Blood, Sweat & Tears and SNL band alums) and Creme Tangerine Strings.

The Faux's high energy shows have generated serious buzz not only at top NYC venues including sold out shows at Radio City Music Hall, The Beacon Theater, Hammerstein Ballroom, and Webster Hall - with Beatles fans, movie stars and world class musicians in attendance - but at major dates in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Park City, Utah (Sundance), Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and Toronto, among other locales. They've headlined 4 of the last 5 years at Liverpool's annual Beatle Week, playing before 35,000 Beatle fanatics - while in England, they had the rare honor of recording an original song at Abbey Road Studios - and also delighted the masses performing live on the Howard Stern Show and The Mark And Brian Show. Benefit and corporate dates have included events for JVC, the N.B.A. and the Michael J. Fox Parkinsons Research Foundation. TV appearances include Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

"It's not just a cover band," says the Faux's Pagano. "This is the greatest Pop music ever written, and we're such freaks for it...Vivino adds, "It's constant archaeology." Imagine the instrumental complexities of "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "A Day in the Life" performed part-perfect with an orchestra. The lush, multi-layered harmonies of "Because," and "Eleanor Rigby" sung note-for-note. The adrenaline rush of "Helter Skelter" and "Paperback Writer," delivered spot on... "Whenever anyone saw The Beatles perform it was just the four guys," Lee continues. "You never saw them on stage with a sitar or a string section. We have all that stuff."

For more about the band, visit www.thefabfaux.com.



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