From Arts of the Pamlico

Arts of the Pamlico will bring the sounds of the ‘60s to the Turnage with Chapel Hill’s The BackBeat, on Saturday. Showtime is 8 p.m. and tickets are $25 each.

The BackBeat takes pride in presenting absolutely accurate live performance of the music of the greatest rock band of all time, The Beatles. But they also perform the rock & roll music of other great bands of the ‘60s, primarily the Rolling Stones but also including the Kinks, the Who, the Monkees, Van Morrison, Smokey Robinson and much more in an ever increasing repertoire. Every member of the band has spent years and paid their dues by performing in numerous original rock bands, but with the BackBeat, have come together to perform the unifying music that they love.

Formed in 2001 to play a one-time gig at the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill, the band had so much fun they decided to keep it going for a while. “A while” has become an ongoing adventure involving over 475 shows in five states for over 100,000 people. There have been personnel changes and different periods over the life of the band. At first there was a kind of educational mission during the three years when UNC music professor John Covach was on lead guitar … followed by more radical college bar gigs during the second, “Jon Heames” period. Since 2007, increasing outdoor civic festivals, town fairs and concerts over 5 states has been the band’s pattern, but there are still local club gigs, weddings, frat parties and about anything else! At a recent gig at NC Museum of Natural Sciences, the BackBeat recreated the Beatles last live concert (best remembered from the “Let It Be” documentary) on the roof of the museum.

According the AOP executive director Joey Toler, the night promises to be much more than just a “sit in your seat” to watch a concert event.

“We hope that people will feel free to dance in the aisles,” Toler said. “We encourage the audience to come prepared for a nostalgic and fun evening — to dress for the era if they like.”

Tickets are available online at www.artsofthepamlico.org or by phone at 252-946-2504 or by visiting the Turnage box office during normal business hours (Tuesdays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Tickets will also be available the night of the show beginning at 6:30 p.m. The Turnage Theatre is located at 150 W. Main St., Washington.