Beatlemania lives on

There are bands and then there are tribute bands For the diehard fan a tribute band performance where the performers emulate not just the music but also the appearance of the original artistes is a music loverrsquos delightIf you are in Mumbai next week you have the opportunity of seeing the iconic Beatles come alive in front of you thanks to Mike Mountford rhythm guitarist and vocalist for The Vox Beatles tribute band and his fellow band members John Mountford James Hender and Kristian Wilkins The tribute band has been performing the iconic songs of The Beatles on stage for 13 years an act which has allowed them to travel the world This year they perform in Mumbai for the first timeldquoIrsquove been a Beatles fan since I was five years oldrdquo says Mike ldquoI remember my sister had bought a ticket to see the Beatles in our hometown of Brighton I was too young to go but my sister bought all of their CDs and that was what turned me into a mad Beatles fan even at that agerdquoLifelong Beatles fan Mike Moundford plays John Lennon in the bandrsquos performancesYears later Mike discovered his affinity for playing the guitar and went on to play in various bands However the music of The Beatles which had been his first inspiration never left his mind ldquoI always knew even when I was in other bands that playing songs by The Beatles was something I wanted to do Finally in 2010 I put out some advertisements and found two guys to form a tribute band with I also got my brother John to play the drums in our band which he does to this dayrdquoThe band has found considerable success in the years since performing around 50 gigs a year at private events around the UK The band has been able to travel to several countries for their work ldquoPrior to this band I had never even been on a jetrdquo Mike says adding ldquoNow wersquove played in Kuwait America Dubai France and many more countriesrdquoThe Vox Beatles has also gone through several changes however with the Mountford brothers being the only constants ldquoThe lads we play with currently joined the band later on but John has always played Ringo while I play John Lennonrdquo Mountford tells us ldquoWersquove done our best to recreate their onstage style even using the same instruments they didrdquoShowing us one of his guitars he explains ldquoThis one is called a Rickenbacker 325 John Lennon used this model from 1960 onwards and I play it on stage Anybody who is serious about being a tribute performer has to have the right instruments You need to pay attention to their mannerisms as well For instance Lennon held his guitar up high so I do the same He used to be sarcastic with the audience so I do that as wellrdquoAnd to take the audience through a journey of the original Beatles through the eras Vox Beatles go through costume changes throughout the setldquoFor instancerdquo Mike says ldquowe wear the classic blackandwhite look with the tie but then we also change into the Sgt Pepper uniformsrdquo he says Inspired by British military uniforms the Sgt Pepper outfits were psychedelic colourful costumes that the Beatles came up with at the height of their fame in 1967ldquoOf course nobody looks exactly like The Beatles but we wear the right outfits We even wear the right wigs sometimes changing our outfits and wigs during the show The short wig for the early days and then the slightly longer wigs in the later part Sometimes I have long hair down to the shoulder like Lennon had in the later daysrdquo he says before laughing and adding ldquoI hope they have proper ventilation at the venues in India It can get really hot in those wigsrdquoWhile being a tribute performer is an unconventional profession Mountford tells us he does this fulltime and canrsquot wait for the bandrsquos performances in Mumbai and Goa ldquoMy only regret is that I didnrsquot start The Vox Beatles soonerrdquo he saysWHAT The Vox Beatles live performanceWHEN August 11WHERE Dublin Square Phoenix MarketcityPRICE Rs 499 onwardsTO BOOK wwwbookmyshowcom