“Let It Be”
Nottingham Royal Concert Hall

I have had the pleasure of seeing this musical in the past and, for any fan of The Beatles, or just great music, you are in for a magical tour through some of the Beatles greatest hits.

Michael Gagliano (John Lennon) Emanuele Angeletti (Paul McCartney); John Brosnan (George Harrison) and Ben Cullingworth (Ringo Starr) perform effortlessly as The Fab Four.

This show though is different and that becomes apparent very quickly. The first half feels rushed and there seems to be a big jump from "I Feel Fine" to "Sgt Pepper". In between the sections the band go off stage to change and there are TV screens taking us back to the era with TV commercials and music from other artists. I felt, while this kept the feel of the era, it also created a disjointed performance where maybe a few more Beatles songs could have been crammed in.

I left Act One feeling a bit confused as I looked at the programme to see that Act Two had smatterings of Beatles songs but the main part of the second act was made up of solo hits from John, George, Ringo and Paul's foray with Wings.

What this turned out to be was a vision of what a "dream concert" with all four Beatles would look and sound like in a Reunion Concert for John's 40th Birthday, and I will admit, I preferred Act Two to Act One.

"Got My Mind Set On You", "Just Like Starting Over", "It Don't Come Easy", "Imagine", "My Sweet Lord", "Jet" and "Live And Let Die" were among the solo successes featured.

I was expecting a more explosive light show for "Live And Let Die" but didn't get one and this song's lighting was quite dark for an exciting and explosive song.

I did love the cinematic backdrop though in the first half which took us back to the psychedelic part of their career.

The clothes, the hairstyles, the playing, the sound, the look, everything has been studied and used to transport you back through the decades.

The band are joined on stage throughout the tour by musical director Michael Bramwell on keyboards to create a more layered sound, created by George Martin's production skills.

The audience though were up and down all night and the finale, again just my opinion, of "Let It Be" and "Hey Jude" was slightly dragged out as the voice over invited us to "give it up" for the four, and then introduced the four real musicians and then played out with "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" as the four, from the stage shook the front row's hands and John gave out plectrums.

In short, and if I were the Director, I would have brought in quicker costume changes, less TV commercials and additional music, bridged the music span gap and added a couple more Beatles songs in Act One to give more structure, and then had the Fab Four take final bows and get off stage.

Don't get me wrong, I love the music of the Beatles and each of the solo work loads, and I loved the idea of what this Reunion Concert would look and sound like, but it just needed a tidying and tightening up.I also got the feeling that some of the lyrics were missed.

I had my doubts after the first half but I was pleasantly surprised by the second half, so go along with an open mind and you'll be in for a nice wander down memory lane, and for anyone like me who never had the opportunity to see The Fab Four, these guys are the next best thing.

“Let It Be” is at the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall until Saturday 15 September 2018.