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Brian McKay

Brian McKay

Brian McKay

5 Things We Learned About ‘Rain – A Tribute To The Beatles’ Actor Steve Landes

By Gina Cosenza and Brian McKay

RAIN – A Tribute to the Beatles is back, presented by Ensemble Arts Philly!

The show runs at the Miller Theater from May 9, 2024, to May 11, 2024. The show features an electrifying journey through the iconic eras of The Beatles, covering songs from the early years to Abbey Road.

RAIN – A Tribute to the Beatles

The live performance takes audiences on a journey back in time to the 60s with the Fab Four. It celebrates the timeless music of the legendary band with note-for-note precision. From energetic classics to reflective favorites, the band delivers an unforgettable performance that appeals to fans old and new.

RAIN has mastered every song, gesture, and nuance of the legendary foursome, delivering a totally live performance as infectious as it is transporting. RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles is an extraordinary journey that captivates and inspires all generations.

Chatting With Steve Landes

A lifelong, second-generation Beatles fan, Steve taught himself guitar at 10 by listening to Beatles records. By 13 was fronting a Top 40 cover band in his native Philadelphia.

At 17 he joined Beatlemania and further developed his musicianship, touring the world with the show. After ‘passing the audition’ with the existing RAIN band members in 1998, his career was set. On one of his travels to England, he found himself at Liverpool’s Casbah Club, owned by pre-Ringo Beatles drummer Pete Best. Encouraged to get on stage, Steve belted out lead vocals to The Beatles rocker “Slow Down,” while Best sat in on drums.

As a backup musician, Steve has performed alongside legendary sixties artists Peter Noone (Herman’s Hermits), Joey Molland (Badfinger), Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, and Tiny Tim.

As an actor, he appeared in the films “Wedding Bell Blues,” “For Which He Stands” and Tim Burton’s “Mars Attacks!” Steve writes and records his own original music.

Here are some things we learned about Rain – A Tribute To The Beatles Actor Steve Landes

  • He's From The Area

    “I am Lansdale, Montgomery County, not far from Philly. We used to, you know, take the train in all the on the weekends. So it’s like a homecoming.” Welcome home, Steve!

  • He Performed With A Legend

    “Back in the days of early Liverpool, jazz was the thing. You know, there were a lot of jazz clubs. In fact, the Cavern Club itself was a jazz club. So the Beatles, you know, in their early days when it was just John, Paul, George, and Pete Best, they had nowhere to play rock and roll and skiffle. You know, the kind of music that they wanted to play. So, Pete Best’s mum Mona Best had a beautiful Victorian house outside of Liverpool and, emptied out the basement so that the four of them could, turn it into a rock and roll club.”

    “Well, fast forward, you know that all these decades and Pete Best decided to open it back up. Well, when he did, he had like a big gala party, invitation only. And he had a big band jam with some of the greats from, you know, that Liverpool era and, he played drums and they invited me up to sing. So, you know, I can say I got to play with the Beatle.”

  • How He Got Into 'RAIN'

    “Our founding member, Mark Lewis, started to contact the Broadway show Beatlemania and kind of pulled from those casts to make kind of the best of. And that’s kind of where he found me and the other, you know, original, guys from that next era of the band, it was like the best of Beatlemania. And we’ve gone from there.”

  • He Plays John Lennon

    “John Lennon is a literal icon, you know, not only of rock and roll, but of the peace movement.”

    “So, you know, to embody that that person is, is, you know, a huge feat. But, you know, just really love who he was and his music and what he stood for. So, you know, it’s it’s definitely a fun thing to do. And it’s a passion.”

  • He Likes Other Music As Well

    “I listen to a little bit of everything, you know, it’s just like anything else. There’s good and bad out there. I mean, I still listen to, you know, like you say, the Beatles and the Monkees. I love all the bands that, and artists that influenced the Beatles from the first place. Elvis, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly. But, you know, I love Adele. I love, you know, soul music, I love R&B. I still listen to Motown, Marvin Gaye, obviously Philly, you know, the Philly sound, Hall and Oates and Todd Rundgren and all those people that came from Philadelphia and changed the world with their music is very important to me.”

    “I mean, I’m an unabashed swiftie. It’s fun to listen to. She compares to the Beatles in that she is an amazing businesswoman. She’s an amazing singer-songwriter. And, I mean, she’s made herself a billionaire. So the proof is in the pudding, you know?”

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