Something About George – Liverpool Playhouse and Touring

Daniel Taylor in Something About George at the Liverpool Playhouse and Touring. Picture: David Munn Photography

Something About George was reviewed at the Liverpool Playhouse. The tour continues until 16 November 2025.

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Following rave reviews for its 2023/4 tour, Something About George is back on the road again, and appeared for two shows at Liverpool’s Playhouse as part of a new UK and Ireland tour.

In a happy coincidence, Shake It Up Baby, reaching the end of its premiere run a few hundred yards away at the Epstein Theatre, provides a sort of bookend for Liverpool audiences, but while that show dramatises the early days of The Beatles before they hit the big time, Something About George takes a very different approach to telling the story of George Harrison in the years following the breakup of The Fab Four.

Daniel Taylor opens the show by explaining that he is here to pay tribute to the man often known as ‘The Quiet Beatle’ by charting his post-Beatles career. In just shy of two hours, he and his backing group take us through the years between ‘Wonderwall Music’ and Harrison’s untimely death at the age of 58.

The show written by Jon Fellowes and directed by Gareth Tudor Price, follows an unconventional format, being a compelling synthesis of biographical storytelling and tribute gig. What shines through every note and syllable is the reverence that Taylor has for Harrison, his music and his philosophy.

Taylor, accompanying himself on the guitar, delivers both a detailed and moving narrative and a lot of great vocals, sometimes nodding in the direction of Harrison’s style and frequently emulating his voice with almost alarming accuracy. He is joined on stage by an absolutely immaculate group of musicians, with musical director Joe Smithson on lead guitar, Tom Kinton on bass, Kevin Pritchard on keyboards and Callum Macmillan on percussion, all four also providing backing vocals.

From ‘Art of Dying’ and ‘All Things Must Pass’ to ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, they pass through a broad and eclectic repertoire including hits such as ‘Something’ and ‘Got My Mind Set On You’, and every number is performed flawlessly.

While Taylor’s narrative has a conversational informality about it, the entire show shows a polished precision that is always engaging and frequently breathtaking. A simple staging against a backdrop of animated and archival video gives the look and feel of an intimate concert, and the excellent sound design from Fellowes and Kate O’Brien makes it a joy to listen to.

Here is a show that has been produced by a team which clearly has great respect for the subject and source material, and the drive to tell the story of a life with affection and clarity is palpable throughout.

There are some tribute shows that outstay their welcome, but this is one that leaves you wanting more. Something About George will win new fans for Harrison’s music, while delighting those who already know his canon of work inside out.

Nigel Smith