‘Something about Lennon’ is neither a play nor a concert but it has strong elements of both, with a great many of Lennon’s greatest solo tracks (with a few Beatles songs for good measure) meticulously performed by a 5-piece band whilst Lennon’s story (from the time of the Beatles’ break-up around 1969 until his untimely death in 1980) is told with passion, humour and drama. This was a musical journey that delved deeply into Lennon’s complex emotions and relationships whilst bringing over his remarkable wit and humour.
The incredible impact the Beatles had (and continue to have) on the world is hard to overstate. As each new generation discovers who the fab four from Liverpool actually were, the personality of John Lennon leaps out not just as an astonishing creative talent but as a man with deep inner demons and an acid wit who left a legacy of some of the most self-examining art ever created (aside from having been one of the two driving forces of the greatest, most -influential popular music group of all time!). ‘Something about Lennon’ brought over all of these aspects of John Lennon, in a bold, uncompromising, warts-and-all way, which Lennon himself would surely have approved of.
Daniel Taylor, himself a Liverpudlian, played the role of narrator in telling the John Lennon story whilst singing all the songs as John Lennon. Whenever any actual words from Lennon were quoted, Taylor was able to switch effortlessly into speaking in Lennon’s distinctive nasal tone, as well as singing very impressively in Lennon’s accent. This was no mean feat, considering that Lennon is considered to have had one of the best voices of rock music in his generation. The only occasions where Taylor could not quite reach Lennon’s range was in ‘Mother’, but this was hardly surprising since Lennon was not simply singing; he was baring his soul, crying out in the agony of inner-most emotional pains he had endured in losing (in different ways) both of his parents at a very young age. That Taylor could go throughout the night from performing some of Lennon’s most pain-filled works to powerful self-assured numbers such as ‘Revolution’ and ‘Instant Karma’ in the space of one or two songs was very impressive.
The rest of the band were note-perfect, faithfully playing virtually all Lennon’s most well-known 70’s songs, together with a couple of songs from The White Album and a track from ‘Let it be’. Jesse Eigen, with a Beatlesque sense of irony, played a violin-shaped bass of the style favoured by Paul McCartney whilst Joe Johnson played (for the most part) a semi-acoustic, as favoured by Lennon (with pure acoustic guitar for certain songs). Callum Macmillan beat his drum kit with passion (accurately reflecting the fact that Lennon’s post Beatle rock tracks had more aggressive drumming than the relaxed style of Ringo Starr) and credit must be given to stand-in keyboardist Jess Hardy, who in addition to playing on all the songs provided some powerful background sounds for much of Daniel Taylor’s narration; particularly during some of the more turbulent periods of Lennon’s life.
A back screen provided frequent psychedelic images interspersed with images from the albums or sometimes simply photographs of Lennon but this was wisely, used sparingly to ensure that not too attention was diverted from Daniel Taylor and the other musicians. This was a story of personal highs and lows with the emotional intensity ranging from innermost angsts to ebullient joy, not forgetting tender love-letters to Lennon’s wife Yoko and son Sean, and the back screen helped set the mood in this remarkably eclectic mix of songs.
This was a most excellent show, giving a superlative portrait of both the man and works; a must-see for any dedicated Beatles fan but also a brilliant introduction to anyone, of whatever age, discovering the real enigmatic genius that was John Lennon.
Reviewer - John Waterhouse
On - 31st May 2025
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