(Klick photo's above for more about the band members and their love for The Beatles.)
Love & Mersey:
A new, but at the same time famliar, Beatles tribute sensation!
 Generations grew up with the music of the Beatles, 4 boys from Liverpool who, within 10 years, managed to change the world of music as it was known back then. A change that still influences today’s music.
For public that never has been able to hear the ‘Fab Four’ play live, there is now ‘Love & Mersey’; a group of experienced and dedicated musicians who interpret the music of the Beatles true in letter and spirit. A performance of ‘Love & Mersey’ is a trip down memory lane. A sixties experience to never forget. ‘Love & Mersey’ is probably the best Beatles Tribute Band found in the Netherlands. Its members are talented and professional musicians with excellent credentials in pop music and playing the music of the Beatles.
Its core originates in the memorable Mal Evans Memorial Band which was awarded the first Golden Apple Award as best Beatles Tribute Band by ‘Beatles Unlimited’ in 2005. The band performed 3 years in a row during the prestigious Beatle week in Liverpool where they played the famous stage of the Cavern several times. They also played a tremendous show before a 10.000 strong frenzied audience at the Beatles Festival in Belarus, introduced their CD ‘The Beatles in het Nederlands’ (The Beatles in Dutch) on Dutch national television, performed with orchestras, on rooftops and on the canals of Utrecht with thousands of people on the sunny quay sides. The band was well-known and managed to leave an unforgettable impression on Beatle fans in the international Beatles circuit.
This heart of ‘Love & Mersey’ is completed with two conservatory schooled and attractive musicians from Macca. This McCartney tribute band had its promising debut during the 29th International Beatles convention at the Musketon Theatre in Utrecht and performed successfully during the Night of Culture in Houten. They were especially praised by Beatle experts for their performances of the often quite difficult McCartney/Wings classics.
 This rock solid cast of musician guarantees a unparalleled sixties revival night, where one can sing along to ones heart content to all the well-known Beatle songs, paint the dance floor red to their beat- and rock & roll classics, or dream away to their unforgettable ballads. ‘Love & Mersey’ also offers a full evening’s entertainment suitable for theatres, where Beatle classics are alternated with entertaining references to the time that saw the world famous songs come about. In short, Love & Mersey, is an indispensable journey through time where you will experience the music of the Beatles as passionately and meticulously as when it was first played back in the sixties.
The Band members
Marcel van der Linden (lead vocals and percussion), Tessa Boomkamp (drums, lead and backing vocals), Kris Pels (electric and acoustic guitar and backing vocals), Martin Jansen (keyboard, guitar and backing vocals), Roel Weggemans (electric and acoustic guitar and backing vocals), Jan Hovers (bass guitar and backing vocals). |
| Marcel van der Linden’s voice has a typical sixties sound. As front man of the Mal Evans Memorial Band he gave convincing vocal renditions of all four members of the Beatles. He previously played in several bands, amongst which the promising Johnny’s Pitbull and after 1997 took part in the theatre/multimedia project Rawwax. At the end of the nineties he was organizing and supporting the music circuit in the area of the city of Tilburg by means of the foundation ‘Stichting MuziKantenWinkel’. 1999 to 2004 saw a break from music, bar some DJ-sessions with the immense popular New Wave DJ-team “Boys do Cry”, only to return to his Beatle calling to form the Mal Evans Memorial Band in 2005. |
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| Tessa Boomkamp first performed Beatle classics in Macca as singer, drummer and guitar player. She graduated with distinction as a drummer from the Conservatory in Enschede, where she was taught by amongst others Danny Sahupala and Ton Dijkman. On finishing her study and after singing in several regionally known bands, this multi-instrumentalist was asked to join the band of former eurovision songcontest contender Marlayne. This was the start of a rapid career rise. She sang and played the guitar with singer Marco Borsato and toured with the band Normaal. She also drums with ‘Girls Wanna Have Fun’ and sings and drums with the ‘Edwin Evers Band’. July 2005 saw the release of her solo debut album ‘Alone’. Currently she is very much involved with The McChicks, a group that released a successful album in May 2009. |
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| Kris Pels played the guitar in Macca. She graduated as a classical guitar player at the Sweelinck Conservatory. Classical music was soon left for private pleasures only and replaced by a love for the electric guitar. For years she performed with ‘Too Hot to Handle’, an all-women band playing dance classics. She also played an active role in the band of Dalal Marouf, went on a theatre tour with ‘Girls Wanna Have Fun’ and performed in a children’s opera with Frank Groothof (known of Sesame Street). Her love for the Beatles originates from a long sickbed in 1980 when Kris was 12 and confined to a hospital bed where, after the murder of John Lennon, she listened to their music continuously. |
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| Martin Jansen has music, but above all the keyboard, running through his veins. His grandfather accompanied many an old silent movie live on the piano in the old Tuschinski Theatre in Amsterdam. Martin himself supported as versatile keyboard player of the band Perspex 50 concerts of The Mo. He recorded an album with the Ton Bavelaar Collectief in 1988. In 1992 however he stopped performing in bands until he visited a concert of Paul McCartney in Arnhem in 2003, which ignited the old performance itch. Almost immediately he joined the Mal Evans Memorial Band, in which he lovingly played the keyboard as well as the guitar for almost 5 years. |
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| Roel Weggemans already plucked the strings skillfully in the Mal Evan Memorial Band. From the age of 16 Roel played in various bands with different styles, from pop, blues, rhythm & blues, soul to rock & roll. The Blue Tomatoes, Mr Groove, Hark the Voice, which toured several times in Switzerland, and The Weekend Warriors, were some of the bands he performed with. Roel is furthermore an active member of another Beatles projects as well as the well-known zydecoband ‘Zydeco Fever’. For him one of the nicest things about choosing and playing Beatle songs is the fact that they manage to surprise you again and again; the arrangements are so musically superb that every song has something unexpected or special. |
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| Jan Hovers played the bass guitar in the Mal Evans Memorial Band as well as in Macca. From the age of 18 he was active in numerous bands with various styles: from New Wave to Symphonic rock, from ska to soul, from country to rock&roll. But whatever music this self-taught musician has faced, the sound of the Beatles remained his inspiration throughout. In 2001 Jan met Kris in the band of singer/songwriter of Dalal Marouf and together they later became part of Macca where he subsequently befriended the members of the Mal Evans Memorial band with whom he experienced all kinds of Beatle adventures. He gratefully interprets the bass lines of master Paul McCartney. |
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Get acquainted with this ultimate Beatle experience and book Love & Mersey for your festival, theatre or party!
More information and contact:
Websites:
Hyves: loveandmersey.hyves.nl
Myspace: www.myspace.com/loveandmersey
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Love-And-Mersey/105135364882?ref=mf
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