Totnes pianist pays homage to the visual culture of The Beatles

A Totnes pianist is inviting locals to come together for an old-fashioned pub singalong with a Fab Four twist this Sunday, as his long-running cult show F*** It, Let’s Just Play The Beatles returns to The Totnes Brewing Company with an all-new visual element.

The free event, taking place at 5pm on Sunday 28 June, will see local musician Andy Hill lead a piano-based singalong celebration of The Beatles, from early mop-top crowd-pleasers to later classics laced with harmony, heartbreak, sitars, surrealism and the occasional baffling animal reference.

But this will not simply be a case of one man, one piano and a room full of people gamely attempting the high notes in Ticket To Ride. As well as lyrics on the screen – and the able assistance of local legend Will Tyler on guitar – the evening will feature a lovingly assembled visual tribute to the band’s extraordinary imagery, designed and operated by Andy’s son, Toby.

During the show, a screen will mix lyrics with strange facts, archive-inspired visuals, nerdy jokes, references and nods to the band’s ever-changing look, from sharp-suited Beatlemania and technicolour psychedelia to Apple-era minimalism, moustaches, round glasses, yellow submarines and the general sense that, by 1968, nobody involved had slept properly in years.

“The Beatles weren’t just a band,” says Andy. “They created a visual language all of their own. The haircuts, the suits, the films, the record sleeves, the cartoons, the mad colours, the slightly cursed late-sixties facial hair. They pretty much invented modern musical image-making.”

The event follows the same format as Andy’s previous pub singalongs, where an emphasis on joining in rather politely nursing your pint. Requests are encouraged, and musical perfection is barely necessary.

“It’s not a concert,” says Andy. “It’s more like a communal therapy session with chords. The whole point is that everyone knows more Beatles songs than they think they do, and the moment a room starts singing together, magic happens. Even if that brilliant thing is 50-odd people confidently ballsing up the words to Eleanor Rigby.”

The father-and-son element gives the evening an extra layer of charm. Andy’s lad Toby will be in charge of the projector throughout, bringing what Andy describes as “youthful technical confidence” to proceedings.

The pair have been working on a show that is part lyric screen, part pop-culture slideshow and part affectionate roast of one of the most visually inventive bands in history. Expect singalong classics, insanely niche trivia, lovingly daft commentary and a few moments of genuine Beatle-nerd insight.

Andy says the aim is to create something relaxed, funny and genuinely communal.

“Totnes is very good at weird gatherings,” he says. “This one is simple: come to the pub, have a drink, sing some Beatles songs, look at some funny pictures, learn something mildly unnecessary about Rocky Racoon, and leave feeling a bit better than when you came in.”

F*** It, Let’s Just Play The Beatles is going down at The Totnes Brewing Company, TQ9 5PB, on Sunday 28 June at 5pm. Entry is free.