At the Pablo Center at the Confluence, a debate will take place to settle this question: which band is the greatest — The Rolling Stones or The Beatles?

Two internationally-renowned tribute bands, Abbey Road and Satisfaction (The International Rolling Stones Show), will come together at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 22 to present “Beatles vs. Stones: A Musical Showdown.”

The show has been touring nationally since 2011 with over 150 dates per year. It has also held a three-month residency at the Harrah’s Reno showroom — the casino’s most profitable run in a decade.

The Rolling Stones tribute band, Satisfaction — named after the song “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” — has been performing for the past 25 years and has over 4,000 worldwide shows in the books.

Satisfaction was founded in 2000 by Chris LeGrand, the executive producer and face of the Stones’ frontman, Mick Jagger. He has over 40 years of experience in the music industry.

LeGrand, a Texas native, said he started playing in bands in high school through his mid-twenties until getting married, starting a family and finishing his degree in business. 

Ironically, LeGrand said that seeing a Beatles tribute band one night was what inspired him to start a Rolling Stones tribute.

“People had always kind of compared me to Mick Jagger,” LeGrand said. “When I started growing my hair out, I just kind of thought it was a silly thing. I never really paid any attention to it.”

LeGrand said he is the only original member of the group, as their cast members have changed multiple times throughout the years.

“Like any other business or any sports or anything else, you have to go through a few trials and errors to find the right guys,” LeGrand said. “Somewhere around 2004 or 2005, I finally got a really great cast of guys together, and things just really started taking off.”

LeGrand said he has never met Mick Jagger in person, so he learned to emulate his persona through videotapes and attending concerts.

“It was just kind of trying to reinvent myself,” LeGrand said. “I had to assume the role as a theatrical role as well as a music role, so it was learning all the dancing and the theatrics of it as well as learning the vocal phrasing and the vocal style.”

The affordability and availability of tribute bands are why they have become so popular, according to LeGrand. He said Satisfaction prioritizes authenticity and giving their audience the “total experience” as if they were watching the “real” Rolling Stones.

“If you don’t have an authentic production, you’re not going to go very far,” LeGrand said. “We’re not here to be a parody. We’re not here to be a cover band of guys in jeans and T-shirts.”

Axel Clarke is a member of the “opposing” Beatles tribute band, Abbey Road. He puts on a wig and Liverpudlian accent to become the drummer Ringo Starr.

Growing up in southern California, Clarke said he started playing drums when he was eight years old, received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in percussion performance from California State University, Long Beach and worked as a freelance percussionist in Los Angeles for 15 years. 

Clarke said he came across an online advertisement for Abbey Road in 2009 and thought it would be “fun for a month.” Growing up, he said his dad constantly played the Beatles, and so their music was “in his DNA.” Becoming Ringo Starr, however, was a challenging aspect of the gig.

“Ringo has a very, very unique playing style, from the way he strikes the drums to the parts he comes up with,” Clarke said. “You have to unlearn stuff and give up on what you’ve developed as your style and say, ‘Okay, that doesn’t matter anymore. I got to do Ringo.’”

According to Clarke, Abbey Road had previously started a “Beatles vs. Stones” show with a different Rolling Stones tribute band, but they weren’t interested in touring. So, they reached out to LeGrand.

“We flew out to Houston and did like a one-off, one show there just to see how it worked,” Clarke said. “Everyone got along and clicked … and we’re still rolling at it all these years later.”

Clarke said that although the showdown isn’t really about determining a winner, when he looks into the audience, he can often tell which fans belong to which “side.”

“We poke some fun at each other back and forth, but it’s about both bands being the two greatest rock bands of all time,” Clarke said.

LeGrand said he enjoys watching the audience’s reactions during their costume changes and different acts.

“Then we have a giant finale at the end of the show that nobody really perceives is going to happen,” LeGrand said. “It starts and then it builds, builds, builds … It’s pretty much guaranteed to have everybody on their feet by the finale.”

Tickets for the “Beatles vs. Stones – A Musical Showdown” at the Pablo Center can be purchased by phone at (715) 832-2787 or on their website. The show is appropriate for all ages.

Matczak can be reached at [email protected].