Earlier I heard a couple of Beatles songs being sung in German. Turned out it was a band from Siegen, Germany, called Lucy in the Sky, and they were singing "Sie Liebt Dich (She Loves You)" and "Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand (I Want to Hold Your Hand)."

I talked with Christoph Latsch, 36, who plays guitar and sings with the band. "I do the George," he said.

Lucy in the Sky is a tribute band, but Christoph says they do their own arrangements of Beatles songs. He was energized -- but sweaty -- from a midday set at Abbey Road on the River.

"We try to give it our all. We are not a band that plays note by note. We have several special versions." Such as? " 'Eleanor Rigby' ... we do it in kind of heavy rock style. 'Strawberry Fields' ... we do a faster version. We can't copy the Beatles, we are not able, and we don't want to copy the Beatles."

Lucy in the Sky is not a full-time job for the band. They perform 50 to 60 shows a year, around the world, but they have other jobs -- when Christoph isn't doing the George, he works in an office. For this trip to the States, the band brought their families for a bit of a holiday.

"We love the (Beatles') music, we love the band. We think they create pop music as we know it now. The songs don't get old, they get better with every year. We play a lot of shows, we see not only older people, but 13 and 14 year old kids. They know songs word by word, it's amazing. There is no other band like that."

Christoph is very proud of the fact that the Beatles really worked hard on their act in Germany before they hit it big.

"Hamburg was their school time, everything they learned about rock'n'roll," Christoph said. "They played about 8 hours a night and that's where they learned how the business is going on .... They really worked hard, not what you see on television shows like 'American Idol,' those people just come and sing and become a star in a few weeks. They do not work as hard as the Beatles did. They really worked for their money."

(Speaking of which .... as I write this, another band is playing The Kinks' "You Really Got Me," which reminds me of Sanjaya doing his anemic version of this song on AI the other night.)

Well-said, Christoph!

Lucy in the Sky plays again at 5 p.m. today, as well as 4 and 10 p.m. Saturday, and 5 p.m. Sunday. I think they also play Monday, but someone walked off with my schedule.

For the record, Christoph's favorite Beatles song is "Ticket to Ride" (he likes the harmonies) and he likes the "Revolver" and "Let It Be" albums.

-- Pam Platt, The Courier-Journal