The student-run BW Beatles will return for their annual spring performance Saturday with their rendition of “Abbey Road.”
The BW Beatles are a Beatles cover band comprised of Baldwin Wallace University students. They hold a large annual performance in the spring semester and cover a different Beatles album each year.
According to members of the band, the goal is to perform as similarly as possible to the original track in each of their performances.
“We’re trying to retain the original essence of the Beatles,” said Sasha Geisser, a baby Beatle. “We want to replicate music that used to be this big, fun moment.”
Chase Kessler, one of the group’s bandleaders, agreed that they were trying to stay true to the original music while still branching out.
“We want to celebrate the music of the Beatles and do something different from the typical conservatory in a style not normally done,” Kessler said.
This year, the BW Beatles are performing “Abbey Road.”It is one of the Beatles’ more popular albums and appeals to everyone, said Kessler: “The album is so iconic; our job is making sure we’re staying true to what the original recording was while also making it true to ourselves.”
The second half of “Abbey Road” is a medley, which will be performed continuously with no song breaks.
Many members of the band expressed excitement over this part of the show.
“You’ve got to keep thinking on your feet,” said Ryan Sweeney, one of the four Beatles. “It feels like a bunch of people sailing a big ship.”
The band started around the late 2000s with some students who really loved the Beatles and wanted to make a cover band.
“It was really popular and continued to be really popular,” Kessler said.
Somewhat unique to this group is the presence of female singers as opposed to the traditional four male vocalists. Hailey Elberg is one of the four Beatles, and Sasha Geisser is a baby Beatle. The baby Beatles are those who sing mostly backing vocals with a few lead songs, and are essentially “in training” to become Beatles in the future.
“It’s super interesting to learn how to create this kind of music as a female artist,” said Geisser. “When it comes to blending, I’m more used to higher range, and it’s interesting because I have to find a way to blend with them.”
Incorporating different voices is not far off from the band’s purpose, Kessler said.
“Our mission is to kind of bring parts of the conservatory together,” Kessler said.
Sweeney said that being a part of the BW Beatles was also a great way to branch outside of his music theatre major.
“Music theatre feels a lot more regimented — this is what you have to do, this is the right way to do it,” Sweeney said. “With this [BW Beatles], it’s more about the vibes, the energy, having a good time onstage so that the audience has a good time too.”
Kessler said that the Beatles stopped touring before “Abbey Road” was released, so audiences will be able to see something that they would have never gotten the chance to see. They have a lot of older members from the Berea community come to these performances, and it might be their first time getting to hear this music live.
“It’s a gift that we get to do… it’s something that you won’t really get to see anywhere else, especially at the college level,” Kessler said. “There’s a lot of joy onstage and a lot of fun happening, it’s different from the kind that is normally experienced in the conservatory.”
Sweeney said that the performance really had an effect on him when he was an audience member last year, and it prompted him to audition for this year’s band. He also said that the energy in both the musicians and the crowd was really great, and it made it really easy to let go of the outside world.
“It’s going to be a great time. If you like the Beatles, if you hate the Beatles, no matter who you are, you are going to have a good time.”
The BW Beatles will perform two shows on April 27, one at 7 p.m. and one at 10 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at bw.edu/events/2024/04/bw-beatles.
