The Backbeats

Under the covers

By Brett Callwood

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Eli Echevarria is “John Lennon” in The Backbeats, a local Beatles’ tribute that draw impressive crowds every time they play. “It was about 2003 that the band started,” Echevarria says. “There was an ad in a local paper for a Beatles’ band that was looking for a ‘John Lennon.’ A friend of mine thought that I would do a good job so I auditioned for it. The band was not very good so it didn’t go anywhere but the idea stuck. That’s when I started putting it together. I’ve slowly replaced different members to improve the band, but that’s how it began.”

A major difference between general cover bands and tribute bands is the need for the latter to reproduce the show of their chosen band in its entirety, from the right instruments to the exact clothes. This isn’t always easy, as Echevarria says.

“We do everything. You have to with a Beatle band. There are so many around the world and the competition is so fierce that if your Paul McCartney doesn’t play left handed, you’re almost ignored. There are McCartneys out there that play right handed but teach themselves to play left handed in order to make it look right. We do the Liverpool accents, everything.”

Whether these Detroiters can pull off a Liverpudlian “scouse” accent is debatable, but they do put on a great show that concentrates on The Beatles’ early, more familiar, work.

The Backbeats play The Magic Bag in Ferndale on April 25, the Cancer Relay For Life in Dearborn on May 3, the Monterey Music Café in Allen Park on May 10, and St. Sebastian Parish in Dearborn Heights on May 18.

For more information about The Backbeats: www.myspace.com/thebackbeatsbeatlestribute