PROVO -- To honor the memories of George Harrison, who died last week, and John Lennon, who died in 1980, local musician Mike Masse will perform a Beatles tribute concert Saturday at Steamer's coffee shop in Provo.

Saturday is the 21st anniversary of Lennon's death, making a tribute all the more appropriate, Masse said.

"I thought there should be a tribute concert for George, and when I saw Dec. 8 (the date Lennon died) was a Saturday, it made sense," said Masse, 31. "That made it a good Beatles tribute instead of just a George tribute."

Masse performed regularly in Provo in the 1990s, playing with such bands as Rosemary Wine, Gathering Osiris and the Near Dead Experience -- a tribute band that annually commemorates the death of Jerry Garcia, making Masse no stranger to tribute concerts.

After obtaining his law degree from BYU, he moved to Salt Lake City, where he still performs often at the Pie, near the University of Utah campus.

"A tribute concert should be out of the love of the music, not trying to exploit someone's death," Masse said.

Since Steamer's lets him perform for free, there are no expenses; "I could charge 15 cents a head to cover my guitar strings, I guess," he mused.

Some of Masse's friends and fellow musicians will join him in performing; among them, BYU English professor Trent Hickman and Utah actor/musician Lincoln Hoppe. Hickman and Masse have been friends since their teen years in Boulder, Colo., where they did a Beatles songs ("If I Fell") at a high school talent show in 1988 -- Masse's first public performance of a Beatles tune.

Since then, the Beatles have been a regular part of Masse's repertoire. He said there are about 70 Beatles songs he could sing and play, either on guitar or piano, at a moment's notice -- about one-fourth of their total catalog.

"I've been a Beatles fan my whole life," he said. "My sisters were big Beatles fans, and my mom liked them, so I was basically raised on the Beatles."

He said as a youngster -- in the days before VCRs -- he and his family drove four hours and rented a hotel room so they could watch "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help!" It seems the films were being broadcast on TV, but not on any local stations.

Saturday's concert will include songs by all the Beatles, and Masse said it will not be a funereal experience. "It's more of a celebration, more of a fun atmosphere," he said. "It's a chance for people to hear the songs they know and love, and hopefully hear them in a competent way."

Eric D. Snider can be reached at 344-2560 or esnider@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C1.