@ Edinburgh Playhouse, until Sat 23 April 2016

There are two types of people: dog people and cat people, those who favour Superman over Batman and Beatles fans and Stones fans. I happily declare that I am in the former camp of each. So I have to ask if I really want to hear anyone other than the Fab Four sing the Beatles’ songbook.

Let It Be, simply put, is a tribute act (I wish that didn’t have connotations of the wedding band about it) and, as tributes go, it went well. Things start with close harmonies in the Cavern Club and trace all the phases of the lovable mop tops from the satin suits of Sgt Pepper to the shaggy beards of Apple Corps; from the Palladium to Shea Stadium. It is a reminder of the hilarious spoof The Rutles, but Let It Be offers very little in the way of humour or audience rapport – and that is a shame.

The musicians on stage playing George, Paul, John and Ringo affect Liverpool accents and encourage the audience to scream and shout and dance in the aisles. There are very few takers. That is a shame too. It is doubtful that many in the audience had attended a rock concert in the last 20 years, something of a contrast to the young, grooving people on the TV news clips back-projected on stage. There is a tedious montage of monochrome news footage and TV commercials (Profumo and ice lollies) to allow for costume changes, presumably, and then it’s into colour: hippie drippy psychedelia matched by some impressive lighting.

The Let It Be band are much more at home with the intellectual, hard rocking, mid-period Beatles of Lucy in the Sky, A Day in the Life and While My Guitar Gently Weeps. If nothing else the show – even if it lacks the spontaneity and irreverence of the originals – is a timely reminder of the genius of McCartney and Lennon and their willingness to experiment, mash up musical genres and provide witty, precise, memorable lyrics. And a reminder too of how inimitable they were. And it’s great to hear those familiar tunes played live.