Tony Kishman and Seattle Symphony channel Paul McCartney, 9/16

The Seattle Symphony has a rare opportunity to rock out this weekend, courtesy of Tony Kishman, a Beatle impersonator who began by playing Paul McCartney in a touring version of Beatlemania. With the help of conductor Martin Herman, Kishman has put together a show entitled "Live And Let Die: A Symphonic Tribute To The Music Of Paul McCartney."

After a brief intro with a snatch of the instrumental sweep in “A Day In The Life,” the show began with “Band on the Run,” with Kishman’s voice heard booming through the speakers, though he wasn’t yet on stage. After a verse, he strode on to applause, simply attired in black. He was accompanied by Jim Owen and John Brosnan on guitars and backing vocals, and Chris Camilleri on drums, in front of a glass partition separating the musicians from the symphony.

There were some sound problems on Thursday night, with the guitars sounding muffled, and the band musicians were slightly off during “Mull of Kintyre.” The musicians also did a number of songs without utilizing the symphony, which would seem to defeat the purpose of the exercise. This was partly due to the set list being tailored for mass appeal; no digging in the McCartney songbook post-1977 (and indeed, much of the audience seemed unfamiliar with “Kintyre,” a massive hit for McCartney everywhere else but the US).

Still, it was thrilling to hear real strings accompanying songs like “Eleanor Rigby.” Sir Paul does the song himself in concert, with longtime keyboardist Wix Wickens providing an excellent synth approximation of strings, but, like CGI special effects, it’s close but no cigar — no match for the real thing. There were also some nice touches, like “Penny Lane” having the trumpet ending used on the promo single but not on the official release. And Kishman has a pleasing voice, light but also capable of roughing it up a little bit, and with the capability of hitting those high notes on songs like “Uncle Albert.”

Kishman had fun with audience, at one point building up to what was obviously going to be “Yesterday” and playing a snatch of “Feelings” instead. At times his stage patter was nearly as pat as Sir Paul’s, with the obligatory “Thank you, Seattle, you’re beautiful!” type comments, while a reference to the Seahawks was seemingly designed to appeal to local sensibilities (and missing the fact that on Thursday it was the Seattle Storm who were playing a championship game that very night). The audience ran the gamut from children to grandparents, but Kishman managed to get them relaxed during Act Two, jokingly asking, “Do we have any screamers out there?” and urging people to clap and sing along, so by the show’s end they were noticeably more relaxed. And enthusiastic enough to drag him back for an encore, with another singalong on “Hey Jude,” and everyone standing up to boogie a little bit on “Back in the USSR.”

As a clever way of introducing a more mainstream audience to the delights of classical instrumentation, the evening was a big success.

The show runs through September 19.

www.seattlesymphony.org

www.liveandletdieshow.com

Set list Act One: “Band on the Run,” “Hello Goodbye,” “All My Loving,” “When I’m Sixty-Four,” “Silly Love Songs,” “Penny Lane,” “Here Comes The Sun” (John Brosnan), “Eleanor Rigby,” “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” “The Long and Winding Road,” “Live and Let Die” Act Two: “Jet,” “Bluebird,” “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” “Yesterday,” “Mull of Kintyre,” “I Am The Walrus” (Jim Owen), “Get Back,” “Maybe I’m Amazed”/“My Love”/“Let ‘Em In,” “Golden Slumbers.” Encore: “Hey Jude,” “Back in the USSR”