When it comes to cover bands, The Bootleg Beatles are the real deal.
Ever since launching in the UK with an intimate show in 1980, the group have embarked on many world tours – and several different line-ups – playing the best of the Fab Four.
Such is their precision, from the pitch-perfect recreation of hits to the onstage banter and costumes, The Bootleg Beatles are viewed as the ultimate tribute act to the Liverpool quartet. They even landed a slot among modern rock giants at the UK's Glastonbury Festival in 2015.
Now it's time for the UAE to relive the magic with the group playing two shows at Dubai Opera, on Wednesday and Thursday.
Tyson Kelly, who will don the circular shades of John Lennon on stage, says the two-hour show will be split into four parts, tracing the group's evolution from the giddy hits of the early 1960s (She Loves You and I Want to Hold Your Hand) to the psychedelia of later albums such as 1967's Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and 1969's Abbey Road.
For the love of The Beatles
However, simply landing the right chords is not enough.
It is a passion for the band's legendary material, says Kelly, which sets the group apart from other tribute acts.
“This is really what makes us, without boasting too much about what we do, as one of the best when it comes to playing these songs,” the American singer says. “While all of us are musicians, it is really about having that love for the material and people have been responding to that.”
When the band was looking for a new Lennon in 2018, producers couldn’t have found a more ready-made choice than Kelly.
Not only does he share similar features with the star, but he was also steeped in Beatlemania, having played Lennon in US tribute shows The Fab Four and Classical Mystery Tour.
With a side career as a singer-songwriter in his own right, Kelly says playing Lennon's famed The Beatles compositions such as A Day in The Life and Rubber Soul remains an educational experience.
He supports the argument shared by critics that Lennon penned more adventurous material than Beatles co-songwriter Paul McCartney.
"Playing the songs only made me realise that more," he says. "When it comes to playing different instruments, I would say that McCartney was a more talented musician. But when it comes to interesting chord progression, songwriting and lyrics, then John is way more impressive. If you look at the full Beatles collection, including their solo careers, Lennon's work is deeper when it comes to craftsmanship."
Move your feet
And what about guitarist George Harrison?
His song contributions to The Beatles are as spectacular as they are limited. The Bootleg Beatles will also play his stunning compositions While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Something – the latter being the group's most covered song after Yesterday.
“It was kind of tough for George because he was among two songwriting giants in the band,” says English guitarist and singer Stephen White, who has been playing Harrison in the show since 2014.
“When you've got Lennon and McCartney standing next to you and you bring in a few songs and they've probably got 30 songs they want to put on that album, then it really has to be amazing.”
With members studying hours of The Beatles concert coverage to perfect their moves on stage, he describes the show as more a loving salute than a recreation of a live show of the group.
Which is just as well, perhaps, as it could be tough to keep up with the vigour of their heyday.
“When you see video footage of The Beatles concerts, they are often standing and singing in front of the microphone,” White says. “But it is all in the feet, man. They were energetic and I have worn down a few shoe soles doing these shows.”
The Bootleg Beatles perform at Dubai Opera, Downtown Dubai, on Wednesday and Thursday, January 27 and 28 at 8pm. Tickets from Dh145 at dubaiopera.com
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
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MATCH INFO
Syria v Australia
2018 World Cup qualifying: Asia fourth round play-off first leg
Venue: Hang Jebat Stadium, Malayisa
Kick-off: Thursday, 4.30pm (UAE)
Watch: beIN Sports HD
* Second leg in Australia on October 10
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
