Get back

—Jeremy O’Dell, aka John Lennon

Imagine if the Beatles were not only all still alive, but alive and set to play in Reno? While that’s dreaming the impossible dream, we can at least imagine what all the people would do if we got a taste of the next best thing. No, Paul McCartney himself isn’t coming, but the next best thing after that?

The Beatles tribute band Because. They’ll be rocking the river at Artown, bringing back a bit of nostalgia for young and old. And, in one of the band member’s words, “Shit, who doesn’t like the Beatles?”

Hailing from Folsom, Calif., the mid-20s quintet is bringing its act to Reno for the second time. Because consists of Andy Irish as Paul McCartney, Erich Nicholson as George Harrison, Eric Fidel as Ringo Starr, Jeremy O’Dell as John Lennon, and the “fifth Beatle” Moe Dawson provides instrumental support.

Hopefully, this visit will be just as memorable as the first for the guys, but perhaps due to less strenuous circumstances.

“We’ve played in Harrah’s at a private event before,” says Dawson. “It was great. I love goin’ to Reno. But when we came up there [the first time], there was a white-out from all the snow. We were pulling a trailer and nearly crashed going through Donner Pass. Then once we finally got in there and played the gig, we got snowed into the hotel!”

This performance has summer weather on its side, so perhaps the only thing the bowl-cut boys will have to worry about is the occasional sobbing fan, if they play their set list right.

“As soon as we play, ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand,’ people just start crying, and it’s really weird,” says O’Dell. “The Beatles played that song … on The Ed Sullivan Show, so we build it up with an intro about that before we play, and people just tear up. Even guys sometimes.”

“Imagine” is another track that O’Dell says gets the emotion flowing. That’s one of the reasons why Because chooses to focus primarily on the popular tracks. But that doesn’t mean they don’t get to have a little fun for more avid fans like themselves.

“[Picking the set list] is hard because I personally like to play some obscure things now and again, but then you have the majority of people that want all the hits all the time,” says O’Dell. “There are some tribute bands that won’t play anything obscure. We just kinda half it down the middle—throw in a bunch of number ones and then every three or four we throw in an obscure one.”

The guys have been a tribute band for about six years, and an undying love for the Beatles and their music is what keeps them from avoiding Beatle burnout. Both O’Dell and Dawson attribute their learning to play an instrument to the Beatles. And although O’Dell started out as more of a Ringo Starr fan and originally took up drumming, since discovering a love for the guitar, his current role as John Lennon fits him well. He says the same goes for the other band members’ alter egos. “Everyone kinda fits their spot. The reason that they picked that person is that it sounds more like themselves.”

Because also emulates the Beatles by wearing the appropriate clothing for the appropriate era. For example, for the psychedelic days, they wear Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club outfits, and then later make a quick change into what looks similar to the cover of Abbey Road, giving John Lennon a long-haired wig and a white suit. The guys also acquire British accents while onstage to add to the performance’s theatrics.

“If you just dress up in a suit and play the music good enough, people don’t care what you look like or what your name is,” says O’Dell. “It’s just the music and the look on everyone’s face and the nostalgia it brings back.”