The Buggs Open Friday Night Live with Blast from the Past

Those attending this week’s Friday Night Live concert in Atlantic Station's Central Park will be forgiven for wondering if they’ve traveled back in time to the mid-60s. On stage will be four sprightly young lads sporting shaggy haircuts and suits, and belting out tunes that have been radio staples since John, Paul, George and Ringo appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in February 1964.
It won’t be the Beatles, though. It will be The Buggs, a tribute band that’s been giving audiences across metro Atlanta a sampling of both the look and sound of Beatlemania for the past three years.

Attendees of Friday night’s show should expect a set heavy on early Beatles songs, says Charles Boehmig, who plays the role of bassist Paul McCartney. “We do songs from their whole career, but about 70 percent of our set is from 1966 and earlier,” he says, noting the group’s later work features songs hard to reproduce onstage with just two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer.
The Buggs strive to meticulously recreate every aspect of the Beatles’ on-stage presence with one notable exception. “Some of the Beatle tribute groups speak in British accents,” says Boehmig, who is a research analyst with Turner Sports by day. “We tried doing it, and it just felt kind of silly.”

The Band Is Born
Although born almost 20 years after Beatlemania struck, Boehmig grew up an avid fan. His parents’ enthusiasm for the Fab Four helped guide him to their records, and “in middle school and high school, they were pretty much the only band I listened to,” he says. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead and They Might Be Giants are some of Boehmig’s other favorites.

In late 2008, Boehmig was looking on Craigslist for a group to join when he noticed an ad placed by Juan Carlos Limon, a native of Mexico who had moved to Atlanta and was looking to start a Beatles tribute band. Limon had been in a Beatles tribute group in Mexico called Martha.

“I was really looking for a basic, classic-rock cover band,” Boehmig says. “I was excited about the opportunity to do something with Beatles music.”

Boehmig answered the ad, and just like John Lennon and McCartney did in Liverpool in the late 1950s, Limon, who plays the role of Lennon, and Boehmig struck up an instant chemistry. For starters, they’re both 6’6” tall. They also already knew how to play the songs.

“We didn’t have to go through a long period of learning everything,” Boehmig says.

The rest of the group features Larry Harrison (no relation) as guitarist George Harrison and Ron Burns as drummer Ringo Starr.

An Enthusiastic Reception
They may not react with concert-long, eardrum-shattering screams or require dozens of policemen to keep them from rushing the stage, as was the case with Beatle concert crowds, but those attending Buggs’ shows still display a remarkable enthusiasm for the group. 

After a show at a Norcross church, concertgoers stood in line for a chance to get their picture taken with the group. “Seeing those iconic instruments and costumes and suits, people really respond to that,” Boehmig says. 

As the Norcross crowd waited for their photo opportunities, Boehmig jokes, “I turned to the others and said, ‘They know we’re not really the Beatles right?’”