Fab Four brings Beatles to life

Friday, July 19, 2002 | 9:34 a.m.

Who: The Fab Four.

When: 9 p.m., Monday through July 28 (dark July 26).

Where: Las Vegas Hilton's The NightClub.

Tickets: $27.

Information: (702) 732-5755.

If the devil's in the details, The Fab Four is one hell of a band.

"Paying close attention to details, to mannerisms, that's what makes us better than most Beatles tribute artists," Ardy Sarraf, who portrays Paul McCartney, said.

Sarraf is right-handed, but because he is a stickler for details, when he plays bass guitar as McCartney, he performs left-handed.

"If I didn't, the audience would be jarred by the discrepancy," he said.

All four members of the band play their own various instruments and sing the Beatles' songs, rather than synchronizing their movements to taped music.

"It's pretty popular to lip-sync today," Ron McNeil said. "But that makes the music stiff. Our show is all about being performed live -- that's why people come to hear us. If they wanted to listen to tape, they could just pop one in at home."

McNeil and Sarraf formed The Fab Four in 1998. They spoke by telephone from Disneyland, which has been one of their gigs for the past four years.

McNeil, who does vocals and plays guitar, keyboards, harmonica and bass, portrays John Lennon. Rolo Sandoval (drums, percussion, keyboards, saxophone, vocals) is Ringo Starr, and Michael George Amador (lead guitar, keyboards, bass, vocals) is George Harrison.

Sarraf met fellow musicians McNeil and Sandoval at a Beatles convention during a battle of the bands event.

"They approached me and wanted to know if I was interested in a full-time gig," Sarraf said. "I wasn't doing an accent or costumes then. I was just having a good time."

When Lennon was killed in 1980, Sarraf was 8, and was singing in church choirs in his native Alhambra, near Los Angeles.

"When he died, I found out about his music," Sarraf said. "From then on out, it changed my life."

He learned to play guitar, trumpet and drums and sang Beatles songs.

"We were all big fans of The Beatles growing up and we had been imitating them on our own," McNeil said. "When we got together, we wanted to be the best possible tribute artists. We worked hard at getting it just right."

They got it right enough to become fixtures at Disneyland and to perform at concerts and corporate events all over the nation.

"We've even been to Brazil and Hong Kong," McNeil said.

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, the group performed before 60,000 fans packed into a football stadium.

"The greatest thing about what we do is that we can take our show anywere," McNeil said. "Even if the audiences don't speak English, they know 'Can't Buy Me Love.' People just know the material."

The Fab Four are so note-perfect that they were chosen in 2000 to sing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and other Beatles songs for the made-for-television movie "The Linda McCartney Story" on CBS.

McNeil says the group should have an audience for years to come.

"I see 9-year-old kids at our concerts singing along to every single song," he said.

The Beatles are second only to Elvis Presley in popularity among tribute artists.

"But The Beatles, by the shortness of their career, are a little more magical than Elvis," Sarraf said. "The way Elvis went out, it was almost a fizzle."

McNeil described The Fab Four as a production show.

"It starts off with the way most people in America remember being introduced to The Beatles -- on 'The Ed Sullivan Show,' " McNeil said.

Jerry Hoban portrays Sullivan, a role he played in the 1994 film "Pulp Fiction."

The production is divided into three segments covering the years 1963-'70.

It begins with the Sullivan era (1963-'66) and features such songs as "She Loves You" and "Twist and Shout."

Then it progresses to the psychedelic period (1966-'67), with songs that include "Sgt. Pepper" and "Strawberry Fields Forever."

The Show ends with the final years of The Beatles as group. Among the songs in this part of the show are "Let it Be," "Hey Jude" and "Imagine."