Tribute band reproduces Beatlemania’s sound

Abbey Road Band will perform two shows in Rapid City click to view performance video

There are millions of Beatles fans in the world, but four of the most passionate Fab Four followers live in the Black Hills.

Monte Madison, Fred Gondzar, Don Lerdal and Tony Johnson are more than fans who love the music and message that The Beatles created. They are members of Abbey Road Band, a Beatles tribute group.

They will perform a pair of shows at the Alex Johnson Hotel next weekend.

The band is Madison, who portrays Paul and does vocals and plays bass, keyboards and lead guitar; Gondzar, (John) vocals, rhythm guitar, bass, keyboards and harmonica; Lerdal, (George) vocals, lead guitar, bass and Johnson, (Ringo) drums and vocals.

Abbey Road Band will play two concerts in support of the Readiatrics Book Drive Kick-Off on Friday and Saturday, March 3-4, in the Yesterday’s Ballroom in the Alex Johnson.

The band will use the concerts to gather books, create awareness and raise money for the 2006 Book Drive and Literacy campaign.

The doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the concerts begin each night at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance or at the door. Advance ticket purchases are recommended. Tickets are available at the Alex Johnson Hotel.

The first five persons bringing a donation of children’s books to the concert will receive their choice of an Abbey Road CD or DVD. All attendees are encouraged to bring books to the collection bins at the concerts.

All cash proceeds donated to Readiatrics are used to buy culturally relevant books for children receiving services in Black Hills area shelters, health centers or other organizations serving children in need. The purchased books contain stories of American Indian, Asian, Hispanic, Black American, Middle Eastern and European cultures as well as books about developmentally or physically challenged children.

Youth and Family Services of Rapid City is the 2006 Readiatrics Book Drive recipient.

Meet ‘The Beatles’

Madison founded the group and insisted on recruiting talented musicians who would put in the effort to recreate Beatles’ music as precisely as possible.

He owns a sound company, Madison Sound and has a recording studio in his basement. A veteran of more than 25 years in the music business, Madison has been in several regional bands such as Ivory, Straw Dawgs, The Larry King Show, and Madison Avenue.

He even married a woman named Rita and jokes that unlike The Beatles’ song, she isn’t a meter made but is lovely.

Gondzar, the oldest member of the group at 57, is an unabashed Beatle nut. He’s been playing music since he was 3 but when he heard John, Paul, George and Ringo on The Ed Sullivan Show his passion for folk music was replaced by a love of rock and roll.

He formed a rock band and soon found himself talking and singing with an English accent.

Lerdal, the band’s second “George,” said he underwent a life-changing moment when the Fab Four appeared on American TV.

“I truly believe that on the night of Feb. 9, 1964, my DNA was somehow altered as I watched the Beatles on Ed Sullivan,” he recounted on the band’s Web site. “From that day forward, all I ever wanted to do is play the guitar. Like many others who watched that night, my life would be changed forever.”

The Sioux Falls native has been performing on stages and in bars and clubs across the Midwest for more than 35 years. He was a member of bands such as Sterling, Showcase, Starchild, The Apostles, Cartune, Bold Lighting, Ivory, and a few country bands.

Lerdahl, a collector and antiques dealer, and his wife Darla, also known as DD, play in the group DD & The Fayrohs.

Johnson is another musician who has been playing Beatles music since the band exploded across America.

His sister attended an early Beatles concert and when she came home she had a request for her little brother — ”You look like Ringo, you should play drums.”

She bought him drumsticks and he was keeping time. His father bought him a kit when he was 9.

Johnson has performed with numerous major acts during the past three decades but said playing Beatles music feels right, since that’s where his interest in rock began.

 

Recreating the Mersey sound

 

Click to here "A Hard Days Night"

 

The band’s foot pedals are programmed with the name of the song to replicate the exact guitar sound. All that work pays off when they see audience members enjoying every second of the show.

The band was formed more than four years ago and first played at the Alex Johnson in 2004 as a tribute to the 40th anniversary of The Beatles’ first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

Gondzar said they sold the place out and did so at a return engagement last year.

They were hustled through a back entrance to the ballroom in 2005 as the crowd roared in anticipation of the show. “That’s about the most Beatlemania-ious moment we’ve ever had,” Gondzar said with a smile, recalling the frenzy.

The ballroom holds about 180 people and sell-outs are expected both March 3-4.

The Beatles fans who get in will see the band members in black vests and pants, white shirts and ties as an homage to how the band looked during its Cavern Club days in Liverpool in the early 1960s.

But the Abbey Road Band will perform songs from the entire Beatles’ catalog.

They will perform about 60 Beatles’ songs during three 45-minute sets both nights but they will spend the day preparing the ballroom for the show.

The Abbey Road Band performs about 50 shows a year, mostly at casinos or larger clubs. The show is too complex for most bar gigs.

Gondzar said they played at the Wyo Theater in Sheridan, Wyo., and sold it out. Seeing the crowd screaming in pleasure makes being on the stage play, not work, he said.

“You know they really want to be there and that makes us really want to give them what they want,” Gondzar said. “We want to give them the best Beatles concert we can.”

Even when he’s off-stage he plays and listens to Beatles’ music. “When it’s music, it’s Beatles,” he said. “Not only for enjoyment, but it’s my job.”

For more on the Abbey Road Band, go to www.abbeyroadband.com

Click here to see video