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The imposing impostors of Strawberry Fields offer a chance to experience the look and sound of The Beatles. |
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Strawberry Fields takes you down
Banner Daily Update posted Fri. July 20
By Sue Harrison
Banner Staff
When the Barnstable County Fair opens on Friday, fairgoers are in for a definite Magical Mystery Tour when Strawberry Fields, a Beatles tribute band, takes the stage. Their show begins at 7 p.m. on the main stage.
(Admission to the fair, located on Route 151 at the Falmouth-Mashpee line, is $10, $8 for seniors and those with military ID, and free for kids 12 and under with a paid adult admission. See more fair info below.)
Strawberry Fields re-creates the Fab Four complete with custom-designed costumes as seen on the Sgt. Pepper album and mop top wigs. Their sound is very close to the original, and the guys even play the same model instruments in some cases.
“It was 20 years ago today/ Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play/ They’ve been going in and out of style/ But they’re guaranteed to raise a smile./So may I introduce to you/ The act you’ve known for all these years,/ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” — lyrics “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (Lennon/McCartney).
Like the lyrics from “Sgt. Pepper,” this current band started up 20 years ago in the wake of the Broadway hit “Beatlemania.” That show went on national tour, and Tony Garafalo, founder of Strawberry Fields, who played a substitute John Lennon for the Broadway show, says he wanted to take the music to an even wider audience.
“I wanted to bring that act out to local venues and travel,” he says. And what started out as a good idea has turned into a career for Garafalo, who has been the voice and personality of John on stage ever since.
The other band members are Billy J. Ray (Paul McCartney) who has portrayed Paul since 1978 and starred in “Beatlemania”; Mark Vaccacio (George Harrison), another “Beatlemania” alumnus; and Gerard Barberine Jr. (Ringo Starr), who got his Beatle start as part of the official touring “Beatlemania” show.
The guys have crafted a note-for-note tribute repertoire that starts in the 1960s during the so-called British invasion when English-accented pop bands took over the American charts. The show continues on through the Sgt. Pepper era and concludes toward the end of the Beatle reign with “Abbey Road.”
Certainly one of the highpoints of Strawberry Fields’ long strange trip is the re-creation of the Beatles’ 1965 concert in Shea Stadium in New York that played to 40,000 screaming fans.
Garafalo says he became John because, “I have the same vocal range, I’m a guitar player (yes, a Rickenbacker, of course) and I look like him.”
Although he shies away from picking favorite albums or songs, Garafalo will admit to feeling close to certain pieces of Beatle music.
“I like most of the material on ‘Abbey Road,’” he says, adding that it’s particularly compelling coming right at the end of their brilliant career. “It means a lot to me.” He also says he likes performing “All You Need Is Love” and “I Am the Walrus.”
The band tours frequently and plays a regular gig in Manhattan.
“I intend to keep on doing it,” Garafalo says when asked how long he will be John. “It’s very gratifying. We play every Saturday night in Times Square (in New York City) at B.B. King’s Blues Club.”
What would John have said about all of this? The band’s name may be the answer.
“Let me take you down, ‘cause I’m going to … Strawberry Fields forever.”
Barnstable County Fair runs July 20-28 and is open 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Fri.-Sun. and 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Mon.-Thurs. The midway is open until 11:30 p.m every night. In addition to Strawberry Fields, other featured entertainers include Starship on July 21; Disney Party Patrol & Imagination Movers July 22; Oak Ridge Boys July 27; Bucky Covington July 28. The fair has exhibitions, rides and motocross plus demolition derby. For more info go to www.BarnstableCountyFair.org
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Jul 19th, 2007