Who would you rather be?
Numerous local bands took over the second floor of Sneaky Dee’s last Friday night in an effort to determine the undeterminable: when it comes down to the greatest, is it The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?
Turns out no one really cared which legend people considered more legendary. Instead, everyone who attended the event (Emily Haines was absent) probably just went to see oodles of talented musicians take on the challenging rolls of The Beatles and Stones and hear them cover about three packed hours worth of classics from the two bands’ remarkable songbooks. And to get drunk.
The Balconies and Sandman Viper Command, the show’s headliners, kicked things off with songs like “19th Nervous Breakdown” and “Taxman,” alternating Beatles and Stones songs and eventually bringing in members of Dinosaur Bones, Olympic Island, Fox Jaws and then some. Highlights include the covers of “Oh! Darling,” featuring the undoubtedly passionate Carleigh Aikins of Fox Jaws on lead vocals and “Gimmie Shelter” performed by the aforementioned Aikins and Rob Janson of Sandman Viper Command on lead vocals.
Alternating band members carried out song after song until the show eventually wrapped with everyone onstage and performing an epic rendition of “Hey Jude,” the excited crowd giving the apparently unstable floorboards a run for their money. In terms of competition, there was no conclusion as to which band is the greater, but it can be said that all of our local talent covering The Beatles and The Stones is the next best thing to the real thing.
