Beatles fans in the crowd show their eagerness to get back to Morristown, NJ's MPAC this October 27, 2024 evening for a tribute to the Fab Four entitled It Was 50 Years Ago Today. Starring Maxi Priest, Christopher Cross, Ambrosia's David Pack, and Chicago's Jason Scheff, the production celebrates the music of The Beatles with special attention to songs from their 1970 Let It Be and Hey Jude albums in addition to the artists' own hits.
The lights dim and the audience cheers as Maxi Priest, Christopher Cross, David Pack, and Jason Scheff take the stage along with musical director Darin Murphy and a trio of instrumentalists on lead guitar, keyboards, and drums. Priest announces, “Morristown, are you ready to party?” and the crowd hoots and hollers as the ensemble opens tonight’s show with The Beatles’ “Get Back.”
Priest sings, “Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner,” before Christopher Cross takes over with his warm tenor and music lovers join in on the famous “Get back/Get back/Get back to where you once belonged” refrain.
Segueing into 1966’s “Paperback Writer,” Priest, David Pack, and Jason Scheff provide backup harmonies as Cross plays guitar and sings, “And I need a job/So I wanna be a paperback writer/Paperback writer.”
Priest, Pack, and Scheff are also featured on the upbeat rocker, “Can’t Buy Me Love,” and Pack and Scheff sparkle as they sing and play guitar and bass on the band’s rendition of “I Should Have Known Better.”
Following a cascading keyboard intro, Cross plays the well-known ostinato guitar part to his 1980 #1 hit, “Sailing.” As he croons, “Sailing takes me away to where I’ve always heard it could be,” his voice floats over the audience and enchants listeners who react with avid cheers and applause.
Scheff exclaims “That’s Christopher Cross!” before inviting the crowd to join in on Cross’ next song, 1980’s “Ride Like the Wind.” Lights flash as music lovers clap along to the driving beat and sing along with the group on the tune’s infectious “Da da-da da, da da da da” interlude.
Cross also renders an impressive guitar solo where he plays with speed and agility, eliciting animated audience hoots and hollers.
Cross sings lead on “Lady Madonna” supported by Pack and Scheff on backup vocals before he and musical director Darin Murphy take seats and play acoustic guitars on mostly unplugged renditions of The Beatles’ “Two of Us” and “Across the Universe.”
The crowd cheers and Cross leaves the stage as Pack announces, “It’s so good to be in New Jersey!” Here, Pack and Co. slide into his 1980 hit for Ambrosia, “You’re the Only Woman.”
Music lovers nod their heads in time as Pack sings in his warm, inviting voice, “You and I’ve been in love too long/To worry ‘bout tomorrow/Here’s a place where we both belong/I know you’re the only woman that I’m dreamin’ of.”
Scheff acknowledges, “We’ve all grown up influenced by The Beatles,” as Priest retakes the stage for his rendition of “The Long and Winding Road.” Vocalizing with extreme dynamics, he sings, “The long and winding road/That leads to your door/Will never disappear/I‘ve seen that road before,” on this 1970 Beatles classic.
The crowd cheers and applauds and Priest replies, “Thank you! How are you feeling? Are you having a good time?” When the audience responds in the affirmative, Priest and Co. segue into The Beatles’ 1970 classic, “Let It Be,” where, mid-song, Maxi instructs, “Come on, sing with me!” and concertgoers join him in singing the well-known “There will be an answer/Let it be” refrain.
Priest struts around the stage as he performs his 1990 #1 hit, “Close to You.” Music lovers can’t help but bop in their seats to the funky beat of the song’s infectious “I just wanna be close to you/And do all the things you want me to” refrain.
Pack tells a story about meeting Sir Paul McCartney prior to revealing that he wrote his next number “in response to being heartbroken in high school.” Here, he accompanies himself on guitar as he renders his 1978 Ambrosia hit, “How Much I Feel,” singing soulfully on the number’s “That’s how much I feel/Feel for you, baby” chorus.
The sound of strumming guitars fills the MPAC auditorium as Jason Scheff sings lead on an upbeat rendition of The Beatles’ “The Ballad of John and Yoko.” After reminding the crowd that he spent 30 years with Chicago, Scheff announces, “This is the song that brought us back on top!” and launches into the 1982 Chicago hit, “Hard to Say I’m Sorry.” Singing with ease and style, Scheff croons, “After all that we’ve been through/I will make it up to you, I promise to,” to enthusiastic audience applause.
Pack talks to the crowd about losing his wife of 22 years saying, “I miss her every day,” and dedicates his song, “Biggest Part of Me,” to her. On this 1980 composition for Ambrosia, Scheff and Murphy sing backup to Pack as he cries with emotion, “Got a feelin’ that forever/We are gonna stay together/From now until forever/You’re the biggest part or me” to heartfelt cheers and applause.
Scheff and Preist give a soulful rendition of The Beatles’ “I Got a Feeling” before Priest is featured performing his hit 1987 reggae interpretation of Cat Stevens’ “Wild World.”
The ensemble gets the MPAC auditorium rockin’ as Scheff leads a high-energy version of Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4,” where concertgoers clap, dance, and sing along. Following enthusiastic hoots and hollers, Priest dances as he sings with Scheff and Pack on an upbeat version of The Beatles’ “Revolution.”
To conclude tonight’s tribute, the ensemble performs “Hey Jude,” where the crowd happily joins Priest in singing the song’s anthemic “Na, na na, na-na-na-na” refrain. Ending with hoots, hollers, cheers, and applause, Maxi exclaims, “God bless you guys! Be safe. Peace. We love you!” as he and his bandmates bow, wave goodnight, and exit the stage.
For more info on It Was 50 Years Ago Today, please go to itwas50yearsagotoday.com. To learn more about Maxi Priest, please click on maxipriest.com. For more on Christopher Cross, please navigate to christophercross.com. For further info on David Pack, check out davidpack.com. For info on Jason Scheff, please go to jasonscheff.com. For information on great upcoming performances at MPAC — including Ben Folds on November 13, Josh Turner on November 14, and KC and the Sunshine Band on November 22 — please click on mayoarts.com.
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