It's not everday that you see the orchestra conductor and the concertmaster get so carried away that they get up and boogie in the middle of a piece, but it happened at the Roanoke Symphony pops concert at the Salem Civic Center.

Victoria Bond and Jim Glazebrook, along with a few free spirits in the cello and doublebass sections, burned up the stage for a few minutes during the season's final Picnic with the Pops performance. Norman Carol would never have dared do the twist with Eugene Ormandy - but then, they never shared a bill with the Beatles, either.

Actually, the RSO's guests were "1964", one of the better imitation-Beatles groups around, and the theme was "It's Rock and Roll." The symphony players turned out in blue jeans and T-shirts, and Peter Max hangings overhead evoked a little 60's psychedelia.

It was easy to see why Beatles relatives, the former president of Apple Records and others have been so impressed by this group. They do an uncanny imitation of the Fab Four, from the working-class Liverpudlian accents and a tolerable physical resemblence to familiar facial mannerisms and quite a close vocal blend. They weren't the Beatles, but they were close enough for a hall of aging baby boomers a quarter of a century later in Salem, Va.

The RSO began with a few bars from the first movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, which was followed by 1964 with Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven". From there on it was all Lennon and McCartney.

1964 did a tight version of "I want to Hold Your Hand," and it began to be obvious why these guys are so popular. Some grouchy people are against nostalgia-tripping imitation rock stars on principle, and this reviewer was numbered among them when the music began, but 1964 converted a lot of us Sunday afternoon.

For one thing, all four members can actually play their instruments. Gary Grimes, the pseudo-Paul McCartney, is a fine bassist who not only plays the familiar tiny bass the real McCartney used in the early 60's but has actually learned how to play it left-handed. Greg George, the Ringo Starr of the band, is an exellent percussionist, and Mark Benson, aka John Lennon, did some excellent rhythm guitar.

But the class of the group was "George harrison," otherwise known as Robert Miller. Miller plays eight instruments, has composed for a number of classical ensembles, and clearly knows his way around the neck of his Les Paul-style lead guitar.

Not only was Miller's physical resemblance closest to "his" Beatle, but he brought along his symphony arrangements for two of the numbers. His theme and variations on "Eleanor Rigby" was in a square-cut Handelian mode that was lush and full. His chart for "Yesterday" was even better, a clearly textured treatment that evoked in places the bright ceramic sheen of Respighi.

For this concert at least, 1964 concentrated on the smiling, happy, and (relatively) clean-cut mop-tops of the pre-psychedelic era. "And I Love Her," (which had a few ex-teens dancing along with the current variety), and Ringo's big number, "Yellow Submarine."

After intermission the decade moved on with Miller's orchestrations "Nowhere Man," "Fool on the Hill," "Let It Be," and an encore of "The Long and Winding Road."

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