Imagining Lennon Live! is John Lennon impersonator/vocalist/guitarist Tom “Lennon” Raider, guitarist Don “Diego” Ackerman, bassist Jeff Sohn, keyboardist Rich Coogan and drummer David Twarog. This top flight, five piece rock and roll band plays high quality, exciting renditions of songs written or performed by John Lennon spanning his entire decade with The Beatles as well as many of his best known and well loved solo tunes.
All songs are performed with the precision of the studio matched with the energy of the live environment to give the audience the best of both worlds.
Imagining Lennon Live! is a bit less talk and a little more music than the solo acoustic show. All dialogue in the show is designed to engage the audience which is encouraged to sing along, clap along and join in on hitting all the high notes. The music takes the audience on an enjoyable and energetic Musical Mystery Tour touching on hit songs and album tracks alike pleasing Beatle fans of all tastes.
Imagining Lennon Live! covers all the bases including early era Beatles pop favorites like “A Hard Day’s Night”, “I Feel Fine” and “Ticket To Ride” along with Rubber Soul gems such as “In My Life” and “Norwegian Wood”, as well as middle period rockers “Rain” and “She Said, She Said”. The Psychedelic era is represented by such Beatle classics as “Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds”, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and the masterpiece “A Day In The Life”. Fans of the later years will enjoy the driving rock and roll of “Revolution”, “Don’t Let Me Down”, “Come Together” and crowd pleaser “Birthday”. Performances also include popular album tracks like, “Dear Prudence”, the poetic favorite “Across The Universe” from Let It Be, solo career favorites such as the atmospheric “Number 9 Dream” from Walls and Bridges as well as Double Fantasy hits “Watching The Wheels”, “Woman” and “(Just Like) Starting Over”. Of course every show will feature Lennon’s solo crowning jewel, “Imagine”.
Imagining Lennon Live! is the look, the sound and the excitement of John Lennon and the music that became the soundtrack for a whole generation.
Gear
Tom “Lennon” Raider (guitar, keyboard, vocals & harmonica) uses the following Lennon trademark instruments:
Rickenbacker Black 325 V 59 Jetglo - Modified to exact specs! Early classics include Please Please Me and I Want To Hold Your Hand.
Rickenbacker Black 325 V 63 “Miami version" - Used in A Hard Day’s Night and many of the other later early period hits.
Gibson J160e Acoustic (Sunburst finish) - Used on many, many early greats and everything from I Feel Fine well on through Norwegian Wood and the acoustic version of In My Life.
Gibson J160e Acoustic (Natural finish) - The “Bed-In” guitar as seen in photos of John performing Give Peace A Chance.
Epiphone 1965 Casino - The John Lennon Special Edition built in the USA to exact specifications of the original. A wonderful middle period piece of gear featured on most of the lp's from '65 on through Sgt. Pepper.
Epiphone 1965 Casino (Blonde finish) - The "stripped" version as used on such Lennon classics as Revolution, Come Together and much of the White Album, Abbey Road, Let it Be as well as for the Live Peace In Toronto with The Plastic Ono Band.
Framus Hootenanny 12 string acoustic - Like the one used by Lennon in the movie Help! for You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away. It’s also featured in other songs from Rubber Soul.
Martin D-28 - Lennon’s acoustic of choice in India used during the writing and recording of the White Album is often used for songs of that period.
Honer Chromatic Harmonica - Used for that extra Fab touch.
Vox AC 30 guitar amp - A beautiful piece of classic Beatle gear !
Vox Tonelab guitar amp modeler - Specially programed for various secret enhancments to recreate the sounds captured by The Beatles on record.
Extras - Including custom pedal board with vintage analog pedals, various keyboards for Imagine, Instant Karma and others.
