Rain's John Lennon immerses himself in The Beatles' mystique

For Steve Landes, a member of the touring Beatles tribute band Rain, being John Lennon is more than picking up a guitar and playing the band's songs. It is, he said, an act of transformation.

"It's challenging, because we are musicians," he said in a recent telephone interview from College Station, Texas. "Replicating those records, that's our focus, and is, in itself, a feat."

Mr. Landes said that donning suits and moptops helps but that subtle mannerisms must be mastered because they affect the audience's perception and, quite often, the songs.

"It's important to remember that these are real-life characters, people the audience knows like the back of their hand," he said. "It also is important to the songs. The way you stand, the way you sing, it all becomes a part of it. You are learning who this person is and in doing that, learning why they played the way they did."

Mr. Landes said audiences are attracted to groups like Rain because tribute acts remind fans of the relevance and musical invention that make The Beatles an enduring act nearly 40 years after their final release.

"You are talking about pop songs, sure, but amazingly well-crafted pop songs," he said. "You are talking about lyrics that mattered, mattered in a way that they hadn't before."

Most bands, Mr. Landes said, were writing simple love songs, trite and to the point. The Beatles, he said, wrote pop songs about yearning for the past, mortality and leaving home.

He said he often refers to the band as a musical Trojan horse.

"They sucked you in with those tunes and the occasional simple love song," he said. "Then, once you were hooked, they gave you all the sex, drugs and philosophy."

He said it's that dichotomy, the idea of abstract ideas delivered in pretty, three-minute boxes, that makes playing Beatles tunes so appealing. He said there's immediacy in delivering the songs live, in watching people respond, that makes the time, effort and wearing of wigs all worthwhile.

"I mean, the records are still all out there," he said. "The CDs are there. You can see The Beatles with the touch of a button. Yet, we all still want, still need, that live communication. That's what this is all about."

Contact Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com.