By Lauren Schiavone
Hometown Weekly staff
Beatles fans were doing double-takes in Walpole last Tuesday evening as local quartet 4EverFab, comprised of Bob Hinsman on drums and vocals, Phil Donovan on guitar and vocals, Kevin Dooley on bass and vocals, and Fran Hart on keyboards, guitar, and vocals, visited the town common at 6 p.m. for an outdoor concert. British Invasion enthusiasts dressed in Beatles tees and got ready to relax whilst listening to their favorite songs. Families brought chairs on the lawn and sipped cool beverages to beat the heatwave.
With their appearance sponsored by the Junior Woman’s Club of Walpole, the band covered classics like “Hey Jude” and “Here Comes the Sun”, as well as sharing lesser-known tunes.
Fran Hart looked back on the band’s tenth anniversary together: “Each of us has always loved The Beatles. In 2012, we started talking about the possibility of putting a Beatles tribute band together. I had recently retired and the other three were already playing in a classic-hits band. I took on the task of trying to book the band at different venues, since I had the luxury of time that the others didn’t have, since they were all still working full-time.”
Hart moved to South Carolina in 2017, but still travels with the band for the busy summer season. 4EverFab has 28 shows booked in 41 days. “We’ve been fortunate to play in Walpole for the last four years or so,” he explained. “The audience is always very responsive and we love playing here. Even tonight, with the weather being so unpredictable all day, we had a nice crowd, albeit fewer people than normal.”
4EverFab was full of Beatles knowledge, and went out of its way to demonstrate the full legacy of the band through trivia and short introductory stories between songs. Discussing the Ed Sullivan debut in America, for example, brought along “I Want to Hold your Hand” and “She Loves You”.
When asked if anyone was there to witness the British Invasion nearly six decades ago, many fans in the audience raised their hands.
“That was something to behold,” lead singer Kevin Dooley said. “They took the world by storm.”
4EverFab managed a similar feat, albeit on a slightly smaller scale, last week in Walpole.
4EverFab will be gigging in the area all summer. A full show schedule is available online at https://4everfab.net/
