Slovak Beatles back via a long and winding road
-
The Backwards (the "Slovak Beatles").
Share with others:
Backwards -- by popular demand!
It was a year (or so) ago today that Sgt. Pepper taught his virtual band to play at the Slovak Catholic Sokol Center on Carson Street. The Backwards is what this Beatles tribute group from Slovakia calls itself, and if its terrific gig flew under your radar last year, you'll have a chance to catch one of its three return engagements in the area -- at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Sokol Club 6 p.m. Sunday at Ace's in Johnstown, or 8 p.m. Tuesday at the McKeesport Palisades.
I would've missed the debut show, too, had I not noticed a coffee-shop flier and decided to get in touch with my ethnomusical roots. My Significant Other politely demurred on going. So I would have to retouch my roots alone.
Some Backwards background: The group's genesis was in 1996, when best-budding Slovak musicians Dalibor ("John") Stroncer and Miroslav ("Paul") Dzunko -- who grew up on the same street in Kosice -- began mimicking the Fab Four. The crucial additions of Frantisek ("George") Suchansky and Daniel ("Ringo") Skorvaga were soon made.
Not your garden variety imitators, Dali, Miro, Fero and Dano -- their Slovak nicknames -- worked hard to cultivate the authentic Beatles sound, taking no liberties or poetic license with the original. They approach the Beatles with the reverence of Hal Holbrook impersonating Mark Twain or Herbert von Karajan conducting Beethoven -- as attested by Louise Harrison (sister of George), who told them after a performance, with tears in her eyes, "After 30 years I've finally heard the Beatles' sound again."
- Saturday May 16, Pittsburgh, Sokol Club, 2912 E Carson St., South Side, 8 p.m., sponsored by the Western Pennsylvania Slovak Cultural Association, for tickets call WPSCA, 412-531-2990.
- Sunday May 17, Johnstown, Aces Banquet Hall, 316 Chestnut St., sponsored by Aces and Slovak Cafe, 6 p.m., for tickets call Aces 814-536-4176.
- Tuesday May 19, McKeesport Palisades, 501 Water St., 8 p.m., sponsored by WPSCA, for tickets call Palisades 412-370-2971 or WPSCA. Tickets are also available at the door.
- For more about the group including videos, see slovakcafe.com or the official band Web site at thebackwards.sk.
The Backwards went forward quickly, getting a ticket to ride through 10 European countries and 22 American states in an astounding 1,800 performances. They won the battle of the Beatles bands in New York twice (1998 and 2003), beating out three dozen other contestants from around the world. Finally, last year, their U.S. tour included a stop in Pittsburgh -- direct from the Leaping Lizard Restaurant in Cleveland.
It was Sunday, June 3, when the Western Pennsylvania Slovak Cultural Association hosted the band at the Slovak Catholic Sokol Center on the South Side. You gotta love a place that charges just $10 for adults (in advance, $12 at the door), $8 for students, lets kids under 10 in free, and sells homemade cheeseburgers for $2.50 -- with REAL buns that have flour on 'em.
The 'Backs bounded out with energized renditions of "All My Loving," "Please Please Me" and "This Boy (Wants You Back Again)," followed by "It Won't Be Long" (Jeah! instead of Yeah), "Closer" and "You Really Got a Hold on Me." Next came "She Loves You"-- performed with all the electricity of the original, reminding me of how much that simple song changed my life (and 20 million others') in 1963.
Aside from the occasional "Jeah!" these guys' Liverpool accents are so good, they've fooled Liverpudlians -- though I'm willing to bet they have no idea that "Til There Was You" (performed by the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in '64) is from "The Music Man." Meredith Willson's lyric came out "sweet fragrant meadows of done and do" instead of "dawn and dew."
Small flaw.
"Can't Buy Me Love" -- delivered in brilliant, speeded-up fashion -- ended the concert's first half.
At intermission, I wandered out and noticed the sign: "Non-members of Sokol Club must See Lorraine to Purchase Beer, Wine and Mixed Drinks."
But where was Lorraine? She was in and out -- a busy gal that night -- but "in" enough to take care of several hundred thirsty customers.
In the smokers' lounge (outside, in the rain), I bumped into all four of the Backwards themselves -- puffing away. It brought to mind the time I flew from New York to Prague on CSA, Czechoslovakia's national flight service -- the only airline on which smoking was not only permitted but required. The smoke was so dense, passengers were pulling down and using the oxygen masks sans emergency.
Anyway, the 'Backs were chatty on their break. Come to find out, Miro has relatives in Central City and Shanksville, Somerset County, now known and revered worldwide as the site of Flight 93's demise on 9/11. In Pittsburgh, they were staying at the Comfort Inn on Banksville Road. I could've sold that information for serious bucks to some hot Slovak-American groupie chicks later, but thought -- like Richard Nixon -- "it would be wrong."
In fact, there was no screaming or tearing out of hair at this gig -- just cute girls in the balcony, doing synchronized hand movements to the music.
All warm and gooey from these intermission encounters, I was unprepared for my shy person's worst nightmare immediately after: At the start of the second half, a ticket stub was pulled from a basket and -- I won the door prize (a signed, framed photo of the Fab Slovak Four)! In my chair in the very last row, I shrank down and stonewalled in silence. But after calling the number twice with no response, someone turned the ticket over and read my name. A couple old acquaintances of mine pointed and ratted me out. I slinked to the front and made the heroic gesture of giving the picture to one of the girls.
Act II thankfully began with "Tell Me Why" and "If I Fell in Love With You," such beautiful tunes, followed by a superb rendition of "Eight Days a Week." A lot of 60-year-old lips were mouthing a lot of 40-year-old lyrics.
"Ticket to Ride," one of the most gorgeously sad songs ever written, produced real tears -- I saw them all around me -- followed by "I Saw Her Standing There" (she was just 17!), which pulled us quickly and ecstatically out of the funk and into "Help!" The grand finale was "Twist & Shout."
These Slovak dudes have it all down perfectly, including the gear: from Paul's left-handed Hofner bass guitar to John's favorite Rickenbacker 325 and Gibson J160E hybrid flat-top acoustic and 1967 Fender Stratocaster, decorated in psychedelic style. Even the '65 Ludwig Black Oyster Pearl drum set is on target -- its 22-inch bass drum, 13-inch rack tom, 16-inch floor tom and a 14-inch wooden snare are an exact replica of Ringo's, complete with the Zildjian cymbals whose bright, splashy sound he preferred.
On their current tour, the Uzasni Styri (FYI -- that's Fab Four in Slovak) will be coming here direct from the Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden in Astoria, N.Y., and traveling on to Chicago and Louisville.
The only thing I would've preferred last year was a song or two from the White Album or Abbey Road. (We may get some this time.) When I asked why the Backwards stuck exclusively to the early tunes, the explanation was pragmatic, not aesthetic.
"When they're in the U.S.," said manager Robert Daniel, "it's too complicated to bring the Sgt. Pepper costumes and hats and all that."
Those charmingly dorky Ed Sullivan suits are a lot easier to pack.
First Published May 13, 2009 12:00 am
