Gass, Hollinden prepare for night at Bluebird

Andy Hollinden played at The Bluebird long before he started teaching rock and roll. He’s been organizing Rock History Night at The Bluebird every semester since the end of the fall semester in 2007.  

Ever since he and the band Atom Heart Mother performed part of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” last semester, he said his shows have since been deemed to have a theme.

“When I talked to the guy at The Bluebird he asked, ‘What’s the theme?’ We figured The Beatles were the obvious choice. You can’t go wrong with Beatles,” Hollinden said.

This year’s show will include a more pronounced presence by Intro to the Beatles’ professor, Glenn Gass.

“Glenn is participating way more than ever before. He’ll be on stage for more than a half hour, versus the few songs that usually feature him,” Hollinden said.

Gass said the show is still Hollinden’s show and is grateful that Hollinden is letting him be a part of it.

“I’m not going to go up there and try to sing like Ringo,” Gass said. “We’re just having fun with it and are treating it as a bar band more than anything.”

Gass said that there is a difference to being a cover band and being a tribute band, that he has no intention of imitating any of The Beatles and that there really is no need because that’s not what the crowd expects.

“The audience is pretty ideal, totally appropriate for this kind of show,” Gass said. “Everyone knows it’s for fun, they’re there to be supportive.”

Some students, such as junior Desi Rybolt, can’t be there to show support because of the age restriction.

“I remember Hollinden playing his music before tests,” Rybolt said, then 17 and taking Hollinden’s 70s and 80s rock class. “I’m 20 now and I still have to wait until next year to go,” she said.

Rybolt said she bought one of Hollinden’s CDs when she was in his Intro to Frank Zappa class and said she imagines his performances to mirror his teaching style to a certain degree — laid back and fun.

“I worry about saturation point,” Gass said. “But there’s a lot of word of mouth about it. It’s becoming almost a rite of passage, ‘Finally 21, finally get to go.’ It’s built up tradition, it’s become tradition.”

Both professors agree that the singing has proven to be the most challenging aspect of covering Beatles’ music.

“There’s definitely some pressure when covering Paul McCartney and John Lennon,” Hollinden said. “We’re trying to achieve the same feeling that the songs have on the albums, trying to make the songs sound Beatle-esque.”

The material that will be performed ranges from the Beatles’ 1966 “Revolver” era to the time that the band split up.

The Woomblies will start the show at 10 p.m. and Hollinden will take the stage at 11 p.m. and perform a 21-song Beatles set. Gass will be featured during the second half of the Beatles set. The show will end with classic rock songs and original songs by Hollinden.

“Anybody can get together and learn easy material. We tend to try to do things that other bands kind of shy away from,” Hollinden said. “We’ve been rehearsing for about two months. We’re not willing to go on stage and half-ass it.”