By Jessica Dionne for Curtains Up
It was an evening reminiscent of what it must have been like to have been part of some of the hottest live music venues of the 1960s in London, England – the audience unable to keep themselves from getting up off their seats and dancing the night away to some of the best music that has ever been produced. That is exactly the kind of atmosphere that 60s tribute band the Hi-Fins channeled into the Crowley Arts Centre on Saturday night.
It was an intimate gathering of people – a mix of young and old – some discovering this music for the first time and others reliving the memories as though it were a portal to their past.
The evening was split into two parts; the first 45 minute set list devoted entirely to the iconic album ‘Meet the Beatles’; the American version of the album ‘With The Beatles’ released in 1963, and the second to other classic songs of the 60s, including hits from the Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Zombies, The Dave Clark Five and the Kinks.
When the Hi-Fins burst onto the stage with ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’, images of the classic film ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ flashed across the big screen behind the band creating the illusion of Beatlemania. It wasn’t long before the audience took to the dance floor with their absolute best 60s dance moves. Other songs performed from the album included ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ and ‘All My Loving’.
After a short break and a performance by the young band Hayden and Friends, the Hi-Fins stepped back onto the stage once again to the Austin Powers theme for their final set. This time they put their energy into covering other 60s hits including ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’, ‘Happy Together’, ‘You Really Got Me’ and ‘I’m A Believer’.
The secret to choosing their diverse set list is making sure that all the songs will get the people dancing, bassist Paul and guitarist Spy told me at the end of the show. Requests were being shouted at the band near the end – ‘Twist and Shout’ being the most popular. When I caught up with Paul and Spy, I asked them if they’d ever gotten a request that they didn’t know how to play. ‘It has happened, but this guy, (pointing to Spy) is like a jukebox; he hears a song once and he’s got it’.
The sort of energy that the Hi-Fins played with is something to be admired; for someone, like me, who never had the chance of living through arguably the best decade in music, the Hi-Fins are as close to the real deal as it’s ever going to get.
