HARLINGEN — Reagan Kretz was born decades after the Beatles broke up, but he and his fellow members of “Liverpool Legends” are keeping their spirit alive.
“I have liked them all my life,” said Kretz, who will play Ringo Starr with the band Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Harlingen Municipal Auditorium, 1204 Fair Park Blvd.
The ground-breaking British rock group of the 1960s included George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and John Lennon. They took the world by storm for a time with such classics as “She Loves You”, “Hard Day’s Night” and “Yellow Submarine.”
In fact, Kretz sent the band a recording of him performing “Yellow Submarine” for his audition, and the group was impressed.
“My family is all going to be there, everybody’s excited,” said Kretz, a 2020 graduate of Los Fresnos High School.
Liverpool Legends is a Beatles tribute band which began in 2005 after a chance meeting between Marty Scott and Louise Harrison, the sister of the late George Harrison, lead guitarist for the Beatles. Harrison had just died in 2001 and emotions were raw.
“I was performing at a Beatles convention in Chicago singing some George songs, and in the audience George Harrison’s sister Louise was there that weekend for the convention,” said Scott, who will perform as George Harrison this Saturday.
“We hit it off in a weird way because she thought – she’s pretty spiritual – I was brought to her to fill in this gap of her brother being gone. It was just a crazy time of my life because I’m a Beatles fan, and she was the only sister of a Beatle. And she was there, and I was freaking out that she was there.”
The journey to a world-renowned Beatles band included brief exchanges with Paul McCartney, performances at Carnegie Hall and the Rose Bowl, and touring throughout the world.
Liverpool Legends has performed in Harlingen several times, but this will be Kretz’s very first gig with them. That journey began a couple of years ago when his friend Brett Hill of South Padre Island told the band about Reagan.
Scott, who also serves as the default band manager, remembers the beginning that led to Kretz’s upcoming debut this Saturday as the act’s new Ringo Starr, the iconic drummer of the legendary Beatles.
“Brett Hill is a story in himself,” Scott said. “He’s been coming to see us since he was a kid and always interested in production. He was always hanging with our production team and asking questions and wanting to be involved.”
So interested was Hill in production that he attended university in California for a time, studying matters specific to that field. He ultimately became Liverpool Legends’ production manager in 2020, and it was in that capacity he referred Kretz to Scott.
“He told me about this drummer friend of his who was not only a great musician but had Ringo’s features, eyes and nose, etc.,” Scott said. “This is very important in our business, as it’s an acting job as well as a musician job. I knew right away when I met him. The visual and the music are equally important. It’s a rare find.”
Kretz appears to have stepped up well to the challenge. Online videos show him in a “pepper suit” performing as Ringo complete with Ringo’s customary movements of the head and arm gestures.
“The most rewarding thing about the gig is getting in the mind of Ringo and how he came up with his drum parts/arrangements and being able to share this wonderful music with everyone,” he said.
As for Saturday’s performance?
“I don’t feel as worried or nervous because friends and family will be sitting in the audience, and they know I’ve been wanting this gig for a long time,” he said.
It’s been a long time coming, and in so doing, the Beatles legacy will move forward for generations.
