James Milne (Lawrence Arabia) will join Dianne Swann (When the Cats Away) and The Phoenix Foundation legends Sam Scott and Luke Buda to perform Sgt Pepper's live.
Photo: Supplied
The Beatles had stopped touring when they recorded the album in 1967, and so were able to stretch their wings creatively, making an album they had no intention of playing live.
Given the technology available at the time, it was a revolutionary recording, Milne told RNZ's Music 101.
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"I think it's when the sound just changed and opened up, and the experimental nature of their music creation just exploded at that point.
"It's the first album where they really stopped trying to sound like a live band. It feels very revolutionary the music being made at the time."
The album reflected the band's new-found freedom, he said.
"They stopped touring in August 1966, so they just were like, this is what we do now, we're a studio band. So, there was, there was no sense that it needed to be performed live. So consequently, they just went crazy."
Even if that had wanted to tour, the culture of live shows and the available technology at the time was prohibitive, he said.
"The culture of the time meant that the way of appreciating music was simply by screaming.
"So, I think if you combine that cultural thing with the lack of powerful PA systems … I think it just became unpleasant."
The band put together to perform Sgt Peppers has no such constraints, he said.
"It's a very skilled group of musicians, and we have tools that that the musicians in the 60s and 70s didn't have to be able to replicate these things.
"Keyboards that can replicate the sound of a Mellotron or samples. There are ways of replicating the music and amplifying it that weren't available in 1967. Between those tools and the skills of the musicians it's possible."
The Come Together 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band' is playing Christchurch, Issac Theatre Royal, 30 August, Wellington Opera House, 31 August and Auckland, Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, 7 September.