They love you, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Short of inventing a time machine, I’m resigned to the sad fact that I’m never going to see the Beatles live in concert. My last chance was when they climbed onto to the roof of the Apple Corps building back in 1969, and that was seven years before I was born. The next best thing, however, will be catching 1964 The Tribute at the State Theatre on Sept. 17. Dubbed by none other than Rolling Stone magazine as the “best Beatles tribute on earth,” 1964 has been bringing the Fab Four to life for more than 30 years. In other words, these guys have been the Beatles longer than the Beatles were the Beatles. Whether you’re old enough to remember the British Invasion or (like me) you came of age long after the band broke up but nonetheless fell in love with their music, the show promises to be a nostalgic treat. True to their name, the lads of 1964 recreate the early 1960s incarnation of the Beatles, complete with mop-top hairdos, matching suits, and sunny, energetic tunes like “She Loves You” and “I Saw Her Standing There.” Co-founder Mark Benson (aka John Lennon) and company have all the details right, down to the last vocal harmony and restored Rickenbacker guitar. If you don’t know your Beatle history, the year 1964 was when the band first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show (thus exploding into the American consciousness) and when A Hard Day’s Night was released. It was the height of Beatlemania, before the lads from Liverpool discovered transcendental meditation, dropped acid, and sprouted facial hair. (If that latter Beatle era is your bag, The White Album is always waiting.) As Benson explains, “1964 shows the audience what it was like to attend a Beatles concert in the early ’60s and generates the same feeling of happiness that is still generated by the music of The Beatles. We get so much positive energy back from our audiences, it reassures us that for now, we are where we are supposed to be.” As for us Beatle fans, we’re supposed to be down at the State on Sept. 17, shrieking like Ed Sullivan’s audience. 

1964 The Tribute • Saturday, Sept. 17, 7:30pm • The State Theatre, 316 Eau Claire St. • $44-$49 • (715) 832-ARTS (2787) • eauclairearts.com