John Kater has gone through quite the journey with the music of the Beatles in what began as a childhood passion and has now transformed into him becoming the Paul McCartney of tribute band “The Beatle Boys”.
Mr Kater, a musician with Pontian and Cypriot ancestry, has made waves as part of “The Beatle Boys” since its inception in 2010, with the band performing all around the world.
The group, which held a concert in Brisbane this past Saturday, is set to perform at the Glen Street Theatre in Belrose NSW on Sunday, January 21, wherein they will play a laundry list of Beatles hits like ‘Help’, ‘Yesterday’, ‘Eleanor Rigby’, ‘Hey Jude’, ‘Let It Be’ and more.
Mr Kater (the Paul McCartney of the band) said “The Beatle Boys” was something he and his bandmates started as a means of adding their own perspective on the famed Liverpool group’s iconic music.
“The four of us were in and out of various Beatle shows throughout the world, and we decided that we wanted to do it our own way. We wanted to present the music in a fresher way without compromising on the nostalgic elements,” Mr Kater told Neos Kosmos.
“There is a constant wave of new fans out there and we wanted to present the music of The Beatles with the kind rawness one would have expected of them at the time.”
The musician revealed that a team-up with Ben Maiorana Entertainment only a few months into their formation gave them the chance to tour, which they have been doing ever since.
“It has been a fun ride, and we intend on continuing our performances,” he said.
Mr Kater recounted his introduction to the Beatles way back when he was a child, raiding his sisters’ crates of records and jamming away to the music with his older cousin Ricky and his mates.
“The first riff I remember was ‘I Feel Fine’. I remember the moment. I was hooked before the age of five,” he told Neos Kosmos.
The musician stated that this current tour for the band is focusing on the various hits of the Beatles, selecting highlights from across their entire timeline as a band.
“There is so much to cover as you can imagine, but we have done it long enough to know how to hit the spot with our audiences. We have a little acoustic session in the middle, a couple of solo moments, and a banging rocker at the end which always gets everyone up,” Mr Kater said.
The thrill of the tour, Mr Kater explained, comes from the audiences.
“When we see them engaged, smiling, tapping, rocking, hands in the air, that gives me the most satisfaction. We get to meet everyone at the end of the night, and we never take for granted their joy and their praise,” he said.
Outside of his work with “The Beatle Boys”, Mr Kater has also achieved other major highlights, including performing at the Sydney Olympic Games.
“I was proudly part of the Millenium Choir for the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games with the great conductor George Ellis at the wheel. I also performed at the Theodorakis concert at the Angel Place Recital Hall,” he said.
Tickets and more information on the concert can be found at https://glenstreet.com.au/whats-on/beatles-60th-anniversary-tour while bookings can be made at (02) 9470 5913.