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... by Joanne Corsano ... joanne@picturelake.com

Studio Two
click thumbnail to see a photo gallery
of the concert

This is really a review of the Hingham Shipyard Concert Series and not of Studio Two, the Beatles tribute band led by brothers Stephen Murray (John Lennon) and Rob Murray (George Harrison). The performance they put on was just as groovy as ever. They sounded great, but the Hingham Shipyard is the worst venue I have been to in a long time. The band was set up on an open area of pavement in front of a spacious lawn next to the marina. The boats were pretty, the summer evening was lovely. This sounds like a pretty place to see a concert, doesn't it? Except that no one -- absolutely no one -- was about to actually SEE the concert.

As soon as the four lads tore into the opening joyful notes of "She Loves You," a few dozen folks abandoned their lawn chairs and spent the next ninety minutes on the open area of pavement in front of the band, dancing to those tunes they'd loved for sixty years. I'm glad they were having so much fun, but they were entirely, completely blocking the view for the majority of the concert goers, who were sitting on chairs out on the lawn (and it was a pretty big crowd, too). No stage; everything was on the same level. The crowd never got even a glimpse of the four Beatles impersonators. The only people who saw anything at all were the ones who were sitting behind the band. And Studio Two - The Beatles Tribute are a very visual band. These four lads have done a great job with the clothing and the stage gestures, as well as using the vintage instruments that John, Paul, George, and Ringo were known for.

I immediately perceived the problem, took my camera, and spent a few minutes with the dancers so I could get some pictures. But after returning to my seat, the rest of this show was like listening to Studio Two on the radio. The one possible silver lining in this is that I really noticed how uncannily like the real John Lennon Stephen Murray's voice really sounds.

Cheers to Studio Two for another great show, but a big thumbs down to the Hingham Shipyard for not figuring out a way to arrange a place for dancing, while still allowing the audience to see the band. There's plenty of room at the Hingham Shipyard, and if the folks that run this concert series had any sense, they would do what they do at the Abington concert series where Studio Two plays every summer, and have an area for dancing off to the side of the stage that doesn't block the view of the concert goers.

Here is a page with a list of links to all pages on this website with Studio Two reviews.