She was still alive, what would John Lennon think of the war in Ukraine? It is not forbidden to ask the question to Sylvain Rougé, alias Sly, the leader of the Rabeats. Behind this rabbit-sounding nickname (bunny = “rabbit” in English) operates a popular coverband, name given to these groups which appropriate the repertoire of well-known artists – the Beatles in this case. On stage, Sly sings the songs that Lennon sang, but also those interpreted by McCartney. Formed twenty-three years ago in Amiens, The Rabeats are resuming their so-called “20and anniversary”, started in January 2020 and canceled twice due to Covid.
What would this frenzied pacifist John think of the entry of Russian troops into Kiev? “War is over if you want it [“La guerre est finie si vous le voulez”] », Sylvain Rougé responds straight away that evening, in the dressing rooms of the Mach 36, the great hall of Châteauroux, by making his own a slogan which appeared both in a song by Lennon, Happy Xmas (War is Over), and in an advertising campaign he launched in 1969 with Yoko Ono to protest the Vietnam War. But here in Berry The Rabeats won’t play Happy Xmas (War is Over), not more than Give Peace a Chance Where Conceived, hits after the Beatles broke up. It’s a bit of a shame: a few hundred meters from a former NATO military base, the message would not have lacked symbolism…
Seeing on stage four up-and-coming Picards performing the greatest hits of the Fab Four remains, that said, an unusual experience. On the public side, first, where the average age easily exceeds 60 years. Spectators have only one word to explain the reason for their visit: the “nostalgia”. “There was a certain joie de vivre in The Beatles, who embodied the triumphant youth of an era that was far more optimistic than it is now,” believe Elisabeth and Philippe, 68 and 66, retired from the administration.
Imitation schoolboy
Almost identically, there is undoubtedly something reassuring about the cover of hits from the past, we say to ourselves from the first bars of Can’t Buy Me Love. Don’t followers of the musical duplicate occupy the bays, like Bernadette, a 68-year-old former social worker? Present here at the concert of Jean-Baptiste Guégan (the vocal double of Johnny Hallyday) two years ago, she has already bought her tickets for the performances that will be given, in the fall, by the cover bands of Queen and Abba. The Beatles ? “I worked on my English thanks to them when I was young”, she hasn’t forgotten.
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