When I saw Paul McCartney perform at the Civic Arena in 1989, I felt that being at that concert was the closest that I’d ever come to seeing the Beatles perform live.  I was wrong. Technically, that may have been the case. But as far as actually taking in the whole Beatles live concert experience, that moment came Thursday night at Heinz Hall, opening night of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra PNC Pops! presentation of The Classical Mystery Tour - The Music of the Beatles.

First, there were the four men playing the parts of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Jim Owen (as John) and Tony Kishman (as Sir Paul) were so good at imitating the look, voices, mannerisms,  and, most importantly, the music of their counterparts on rhythm guitar and bass, that if you were in the audience that night and you closed your eyes, you would not be able to tell the difference from the real thing. I know this because I tried doing just that. Their impersonations are dead-on. Even watching their back-and-forth banter in between songs was a bit eerie.

 The other two members of the tribute band - John Brosnan (as George) and Chris Camilleri (as Ringo) are excellent musicians but bear very little resemblence to their counterparts. Brosnan, who is fairly new to the band,  is quite competent on lead guitar and Camilleri is an amazing drummer, but they don’t even appear to be trying to imitate the two least celebrated members of the Beatles.

But what really makes this concert a real treat for Beatles fans is the backing of the Pittsburgh Symphony, conducted by Lawrence Loh. These classic songs are meant to be played with a symphony. That is why seeing this show was, in one sense, better than seeing McCartney’s live solo show. My main complaint about McCartney is that he never uses real musicians for those parts of the songs that feature strings, brass and other instruments. Those songs, which will be forever etched in our brains, were recorded with live studio musicians. But when on tour, McCartney always chooses to use a keyboardist who is able to generate those sounds on a synthesizer, which cannot compare to the real thing. Watching these songs come to life on stage with a full symphonic orchestra is just too surreal to describe.

 As for the songs themselves…Owen, Kishman, Brosnan and Camilleri opened their set with “Got To Get You Into My Life”, “She Loves You” and “I Saw Her Standing There”. The latter two were probably the only songs that did not feature the symphony.  Much of the rest of the program was taken from the late 1960’s, when the band began to experiment with different sounds and instruments and of course, mind-altering drugs. “All You Need Is Love”, “A Day in the Life”, “Magical Mystery Tour” and “Yellow Submarine” - they were all there. So were “Penny Lane”, “Eleanor Rigby” and “Something”. Each of the Beatles were well represented, with a song list that featured all four singers on lead. Just about every song performed that night was a monster hit. The exception was “Good Night”, the seldom-played lush lullaby  from the Beatles so-called White Album. Camilleri, together with the symphony, did a beautiful job on this gem of a number, which actually was one of the best performances of the night. The rest were all bona fide hits. They even performed a couple of John and Paul’s solo hits, “Imagine” and “Live and Let Die”, respectively.

One of the highlights of the show for me was “Sgt. Pepper’s Long Hearts Club Band”, in which members of the Pittsburgh Symphony became part of the “recording” by acting as the live audience, complete with applause and laughter.  It was like being there in the studio while the song was being recorded. On the downside, Owen’s voice as Lennon’s was overpowered by the music on “I Am the Walrus”. I could barely hear him singing.

The only other things lacking in this “Beatles concert” experience were the raw energy and urgency displayed by the original Fab Four. And, of course, there are no screaming teenage girls in the audience, drowning out every note to come out of the loud speakers. As Brosnan ironically remarked in the first half of the show, “if you remember the 60’s, you probably ARE in your 60’s”.

If the Beatles were still alive, still together and still performing today, one cannot help but wonder if they would end their shows the same way this band does. They closed their second set with the Abbey Road medley. Then they came back for an encore that had everyone on their feet dancing AND singing - “Hey Jude” and “Twist and Shout”.

 I’ve seen plenty of Beatles tribute bands in my lifetime. But none like this. If you’re a Beatles fan, you owe it to yourself to see these four men perform some of the greatest music of this generation - WITH the Pittsburgh Symphony. (Show runs through Nov. 22nd at Heinz Hall).