By Valerie Chapman
If it?s been ?A Hard Day?s Night,? shed the 20-pound backpack, grab a date and enjoy a night with the Beatles.
BackBeat, a Beatles impressionist group, will be performing at the SCERA Shell Theatre this Saturday in a benefit concert for the Mountain Valley Chapter of the Red Cross in Provo.
?To look at them, you?ll think they?re the Beatles,?said Garr Judd, executive director of the Provo Red Cross. ?To hear them, you?ll think they?re the Beatles,? ?They?re phenomenal.?
BackBeat has been together for over 10 years and has achieved much success in their career said Danny Lopez, the lead singer of the group.
The group formed after the members were cast together in a movie about Elvis. After working together on the movie, they began touring and performing all over the world, Lopez said.
?We?re not just a group of guys that do Beatles music,? Lopez said. ?There?s a whole history behind the music.?
This is the second year BackBeat has performed at the Red Cross benefit event. Nancy Housekeeper of the Provo Red Cross saw BackBeat perform last year and loved them.
?They were very respectful of their audience,? Housekeeper said. ?They did a great job.?
The concert is being held to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Red Cross? Provo location.
The mission of the Red Cross is to help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. The Mountain Valley Chapter in Provo assists families in 14 Utah counties every day, which comprises approximately 600,000 people.
?The Red Cross helps people in disasters such as Katrina all over the world,? Judd said. ?But we need to realize that local people right in our own backyards need our help every day.?
Though Judd expressed his gratitude for the generosity of the people in Provo, he said the Mountain Valley Chapter is always in need of more volunteers and blood donations.
In addition to the concert, disaster preparedness activities such as CPR training and life saving technique demonstrations will be offered by Red Cross workers and volunteers before the show. The Red Cross will also be selling first aid kits.
Judd said he expects over 1,000 people to attend the event, so families are encouraged to arrive early. The gates to the theater will open at 2 p.m. Concessions and inflatable-type activities will be offered until the BackBeat concert begins at 4 p.m.
Tickets can be obtained by giving a donation of any amount to the Hurricane Katrina relief fund. Donations can be made at the door or in advance at the Provo location at 865 N. Freedom Blvd., Provo.
