Rolling out big-screen images and other visual effects, the MegaBeatles have been playing an annual wintertime fundraiser for Valparaiso’s Memorial Opera House, which dates back to the late 19th century.
“We can be more theatrical with our presentation,” noted Chad Clifford, vocalist and guitarist for the MegaBeatles, a Beatles tribute band comprised of Northwest Indiana rockers who will perform a 7:30 p.m. Jan. 20 concert.
“The wonderful staff at the Memorial Opera House lets us be a little more artistic with the presentation than we can be elsewhere; that’s one thing I really look forward to,” Clifford said.
The chance for creativity “sets that show apart,” according to Clifford, who fronts the CrawPuppies, a popular Region band that also features Chris Karp, Mike Curtis and Aaron Hedges.
The CrawPuppies and the Chris and Lou Band will each dish Beatles fare at the Valparaiso show, and then merge to form the super-sized MegaBeatles that will include Ed Reinhold.
Beatles fans will get a sweeping array of the group’s impressive catalog. “We will make sure the whole range of Beatles tunes gets covered,” Clifford, a Portage resident, said.
The MegaBeatles plan to stir things up, injecting fresh Fab Four material.
“We’ll have some new songs, we always do,” Clifford said.
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On the radar for Clifford and company are performances of “Savoy Truffle” and “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey.”
Clifford calls the songs “a couple of deep cuts” off the Beatles self-titled 1968 double-disc recording, commonly known as the “White Album.” The 50th anniversary of its release is being celebrated in 2018.
Meanwhile, the Chris and Lou Band is set to perform earlier Beatles fare, such as the chart-topping “She Loves You” (1964) and the harmonic “Wait” (1965).
A Portage resident, Lou Samaniego lauds the arts heritage that is associated with the Memorial Opera House.
“It’s just got a great vibe to it; it’s very artsy,” the bassist, guitarist and singer said.
Scheduled to join Samaniego in the Chris and Lou Band on Jan. 20 will be music partner Chris Sulcer, along with Marty Paxton and Edward Renwald.
The large-scale Beatles bash at the Memorial Opera House returns to the historic building for a fourth year. A cash bar will be available.
Scot MacDonald, the opera house’s executive director, said the show packs them in because it ranks as an “awesome tribute to the Beatles.
“Beatles music just has always endured,” MacDonald said.
Clifford said the MegaBeatles are primed to give the opera house audience the timeless classics it associates with the lads from Liverpool.
“You kind of got to do ‘Hey Jude;’ you got to do ‘Let It Be,’ ” Clifford said.
Also on the MegaBeatles playlist is “Twist and Shout,” a rambunctious number associated with the Beatles-led “British Invasion” of America in 1964.
The MegaBeatles specialize in latter-era Beatles material that was generated with a more complex and technical level of studio production that was absent from the band’s early recordings.
“To bring a little ‘Summer of Love’ optimism into January feels good to me,” Clifford said.
Bob Kostanczuk is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
MegaBeatles, CrawPuppies, Chris and Lou Band
Where: Memorial Opera House, 104 E. Indiana Ave., Valparaiso
When: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 20
Tickets: $35
Information: 219-548-9137; http://www.memorialoperahouse.com