Beatles get a little help from friends

The Columbia County Exchange Club is offering fans of The Beatles a chance to attend a rare live performance of the group's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

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The group Ed Turner and Number 9 will perform the 1967 album, which The Beatles never performed live, at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Imperial Theatre in downtown Augusta.

Proceeds from the concert, put on by the Exchange Club, will benefit three area child abuse prevention programs including The Child Advocacy Center, said Tony Powers, the event coordinator.

"It is going to be the musical event of the year in this town," Powers said.

The three-set concert will include backup strings, visuals and dancers. Kirk Deal, a 1994 Evans High School graduate and the owner of Kirkwood's Music and Repair, said the concert is part of a series in which the group re-creates and performs The Beatles' albums on the 40th anniversary of their release.

In addition to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Number 9 performed The Beatles' Rubber Soul and Revolver albums.

"It has never been this massive," said Deal, who provides horns and sound effects for the performance, which will include such album tracks as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and With a Little Help From My Friends.

The band is made up of a who's who of area musical talent, including Ed Turner, the former host of local radio's The Mad Music Asylum for 18 years, Chip McDonald, Tim Arbisi, Roger Davis, Jamie Jones, Jeff Johnston and Kirkwood Deal.

Tickets for the Sgt. Pepper's concert cost $10 to $35.

Tickets are available by calling the Imperial Theatre at (706) 722-8341 or by visiting www.imperialtheatre.com.