It wasn’t his technique or musical ability that first connected Erik Fidel to The Beatles’ drummer Ringo Starr.
“I had an affinity for Ringo and his personality. As a kid, we had an unofficial biography of The Beatles on VHS. I never understood why it didn’t have any of the Beatles’ songs on it. It did have press conferences of them being themselves, and I thought ‘this guy is so cool,’” said Fidel, who slips into Ringo’s drums as part of The Fab Four, a tribute group performing in concert at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 10, at the Columbia County Performing Arts Center. For ticket, go here.
Fidel’s music career started as a bassist and guitarist. The Fab Four has been around since the late 1990s, but Fidel didn’t come on board until 2011. He knew the original members. Two of them owned and operated a music store in his hometown of Sacramento, Calif.
They asked him if he could play the drums in 2008, and he worked to learn Ringo’s style.
“He’s not a showman as a drummer; he’s not really a technical guy, but he plays for the songs. He plays for the music. He plays with John, with Paul and with George, not for himself to say ‘look at me; look at what I can do’… It’s crazy that I’m paying homage to him on a daily basis,” he said.
Since its formation, The Fab Four has toured the globe. The Fab Four provided motion capture performances for the Cirque du Soleil Beatles LOVE Show’s 10th anniversary revamp in 2017 and for The Beatles: Rock Band music game, released in 2009. Their numerous television appearances include Entertainment Tonight, Good Morning America and Ellen DeGeneres’s Really Big Show and recorded the soundtrack for the CBS-TV movie, The Linda McCartney Story.
Traditionally, the Fab Four has followed a similar construct to the concerts. Members perform iconic songs on a timeline from The Beatles’ roots until its dissolution, following the music’s evolution.
This tour, The Fab Four is trying a different approach.
“We’re going to perform Rubber Soul from start to finish,” he said.
As an album, Rubber Soul isn’t the most well-known of The Beatles; however, it is a pivotal recording in the band’s journey, he said.
“It shows the transition period from their four-chord love songs, 50s inspired music, to their more studio experimentation,” he said. “It’s something completely different.”
While they do that entire album, Fidel said they also add in a few of the iconic songs of The Beatles.
Fidel said that although he’s played some of the songs thousands of times, there’s something special when he gets behind the drums and plays for an audience.
“Once we come together, the magic happens, and it’s not our magic; it’s the Beatles magic. I’m just lucky enough to channel that and bring everyone together,” he said.
And it does bring people together. In an auditorium, there will be people from various backgrounds – from the Baby Boomers who remember seeing The Beatles the first time on The Ed Sullivan Show to Fidel’s son, who at 3, already knows the words to the songs his dad plays every night. For two hours, everyone in the room is simply there for one shared reason – a love of The Beatles’ music.
“At the show with The Beatles’ music ‘all you need is love.’ That’s very true. No one cares about who you worship or who you are voting for,” he said.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
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