Reviews
An Interview with Joe Anastasi
“Finally, the band is simply brilliant. The vocal harmonies are incredibly authentic — and the key to it all in this music is represented by these vocal harmonies — they are what make this music so distinctly unique and spectacular.”
Joe Anastasi
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“…refreshingly different to other tribute acts. A truly delightful mix of talented musical performances and animated storytelling…”
Ronnie Sharp
Ronnie’s Awesome List
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“The band does a terrific job of keeping the show lively by sharing interesting anecdotes about Paul McCartney’s life and the origins of his music between songs. As a teenage, surface-level Beatles fan, I enjoyed the show a lot.”
Freddie Kehoe
Ronnie’s Awesome List, the Ultimate Teen Round-Up in Marin and Beyond.
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“I recently saw the show “Stroll Down Penny Lane” at the JaM Cellars Ballroom in Napa, CA. The show was spectacular!
The lead singer sounded just like Paul McCartney. The screen behind the band, which provided not only interesting visual patterns and images, but also fascinating nuggets of Beatles history that usually pertained to the particular tunes that were being played. That information was much appreciated and essential to this great multimedia event!
The music that was playing was timed perfectly to video or animation on the screen. There were even a few ‘Beatles’ Music Theory ‘lessons’ mixed in. All in all it was a very enjoyable and entertaining show – A must see show!”
Marion Echevarria
SF Tribune
“The show is wonderful.”
Billy Cohen
Labyrynth Management
“I’ve been humming Beatles songs, non-stop…”
Vicente Franco
Franco Productions
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“What a great show!”
David Darwish
Bellevue Club
“…even the most die-hard Beatles fans attending the show discover something they had not known.”
Jonathan Farrell
Napa Valley Register
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“I will always remember Stroll Down Penny Lane… …the bagpipe performance of Mull of Kintyre opened my heart to life itself.”
Torhild Eik
Norway
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“You obviously have a cinematography background — the pictures, sketches, and stories were wonderful — but most impressive was your singing, I truly was quite amazed!”
Anna Hinck
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“My parents said your show was wonderful. They loved your music and animation, and actually cried during one of the films.”
Rita Johal-Johnson
“Not only was the venue a lovely place, the Bellevue Club was elegant, such a treat — but, the performance ran two hours. And the leader was so clever in his presentation, as well as unique. The films were amusing as well as historical. Just great! The crowd couldn’t sit still. All the grey heads were bobbing!”
Karen Carlson
Marinscope
“It’s a Hit!!”
My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed your multimedia extravaganza. More noteworthy, my cousin from Redwood City who attended (with her husband) the Friday performance raved about it. I was curious to know whether she, as a charter member of the Paul McCartney fan club and one of the screamers at the Shea Stadium concert, was aware of all the revelations in the videos and slides. She said she knew most of them (e.g., Melanie Coe), but Carl Perkins and Dragonfly (among others) were new to her.”
Bill Hamm
“This was not a simple cover performance, but rather an information rich nostalgia trip with projections providing insights during songs and Anastasi acting as raconteur between them.”
Victor Cordell
“The audience was so high after your performance of “Hey Jude,” they’ll have to scrape the Brylcreem off the ceiling of the Bellevue Club!”
Arthur Twain
Review by Tony Wade of the Daily Republic
Prof. Stompensplatt and band takes the audience on a real life musical journey from Paul’s early days with The Beatles, their emotional breakup, love, life and loss. The band was not afraid to stray from the biggest hits, sprinkling the show with some lesser-known gems combined with Sir Paul McCartney’s most popular songs. It’s no wonder both shows sold out!
Ronnie Sharpe
Ronnie’s Awesome List
“I have been humming to Beatles songs and [have] Googled lyrics since the night of Friday the 6th. I will always remember Stroll Down Penny Lane – a whole night of music expanded through selection of lyrics pointing out patterns and storylines on the screen behind the band.
“I grew up long after the Beatles and was unaware of how intriguing the stories in the songs are, like the story of Melanie Coe and the effects it had on her life to be immortalized. The variation of musical compositions showed through images and text displayed on the screen while the band played was fun and easy to follow for me, who knows absolutely nothing about guitars and making music. The newspaper clips, words from radio interviews, TV images and peaceful landscapes respectfully distant to Paul McCartney’s private retreat after the Beatles breakup, kept the concert focused as a truly fabulous tribute to Paul McCartney. Beatles will forever be in my heart, and the bagpipe performance of Mull of Kintyre opened my heart to life itself.
“Thank you Joe Anastasi, and your band members Mark Abbott, Winter, Mike Sugar, Matt Twain and solo performers. I love your music and stage show, and I sincerely hope you will perform this tribute many more times.”
Torhild Eik
Norway
“I want to tell you how much I enjoyed last Friday’s event. The band was fantastic and your performance awesome! You obviously have a cinematography background — the pictures, sketches, and stories were wonderful — but most impressive was your singing, I truly was quite amazed! My sincere congratulations and judging by the attendance a great success. Bravo!”
Anna Hinck
“That was an impressive performance that you guys delivered last Friday… and then again on Saturday! The fact that you could remember 33 songs, the lyrics, the stories, and then deliver them flawlessly (as far as I’m concerned anyway) was mind boggling to me. And of course, I’ve been humming Beatles songs, non-stop, since then. I can tell it was a monumental job, to put the project together and you did it very gracefully! And survived unhurt… Extraordinary!”
Vicente Franco
Franco Productions