‘The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years’ review: “Lovingly-crafted and joyous”

The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years review: A joyous, lovingly crafted tribute to an iconic band. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls; ‘The Beatles.’

You would be hard-pressed to find someone who truly hates ‘The Beatles’. For everyone who may not like their earlier pop numbers, there’s an experimental track from their later years that can be brought forward as rebuttal, and vice versa. No matter what you may think of ‘The Beatles’ there is no denying the unprecedented level of fame that the four mop-top boys from Liverpool obtained. There has never been anything quite like Beatle-mania, before or since, and it is that sense of pandemonium that Ron Howard is predominantly interested in here in the first Beatles-approved documentary since 1995.

Focusing on the period that the band toured around the world from 1962 to 1966, from the depths of the Cavern Club, to the crazy, dizzying heights of playing to a sold-out Shea Stadium, to the point where they had simply had enough. This takes a look at the relationships formed, the cries of the crowds, occasional points of controversy, and the central friendship that made up the quartet that made music history.

Given a great deal of access to archive footage, Howard has constructed an account that is incredibly researched, breathtakingly restored and utterly delightful to behold. The footage that sees the band in various press conferences, on stage at a number of venues, and also a look in to the recording studio is simply an Aladdin’s cave of treasures for any Beatles fan, as you enjoy spending time in the company of four friends who are having the time of their lives, becoming men together through quite unique circumstances. It is pleasure to be reminded of how funny, quick witted, and utterly charming the four were together both on and off the stage.

One may think that there is very little left to say about ‘The Beatles’, and while this may not give too much in the way of fresh insight or heavy probing into Beatlemania, it does enough to recapture the spirit of the times, and demonstrates why they were so beloved. This is conveyed through various interviews with famous faces describing their connection to ‘The Beatles’. Some of these work better than others, with Whoopie Goldberg delivering some of the most heart-felt anecdotes, while Richard Curtis leaves you wondering why he was featured at all.

Focusing on a certain period allows Howard’s second documentary (after 2013’s Made in America) to have a strong sense of narrative, essentially charting the reasons why ‘The Beatles’ made the decision to stop playing live gigs. We get to re-live those highlight gigs, but also appreciate the band’s struggle at coming to terms with their artistry, and being brave enough to make the decisions needed to ensure their artistic nature was nurtured beyond the demands of a screaming crowd.

Eight Days a Week is a must for any Beatles-fan, and should be on the radar of any one with the slightest interest in the history of music. If it doesn’t offer much in the way of new insight to the band, it does offer the chance to relive some of their greatest shows, listen to their most famous tracks through cinema surround sound, and gives you the chance to feel like you’re hanging out with the boys from the ‘pool. A joyous, lovingly crafted tribute to an iconic band. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls; ‘The Beatles.’

The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years review by Andrew Gaudion, September 2016.

The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years will be released in UK cinemas on Thursday 15th September 2016.