By CHARLES RUNNELLS • crunnells@news-press.com

McCartney impersonator Ardy Sarraf was understandably nervous. Here was his musical idol - an honest-to-Pepper, real-life Beatle - signing copies of his new children’s book at a Los Angeles bookstore.

“It was very surreal,” Sarraf says.

Of course, it was especially surreal for Sarraf. After all, he portrays the “cute Beatle” in The Fab Four, one of the most acclaimed Beatles tribute bands in the country.

Sarraf almost felt like he was looking into a mirror when he met McCartney several years ago.

“It’s like an out-of-body experience,” Sarraf says and chuckles. “You turn the corner, and there he is.

“You’re like, ‘Oh my God, it’s him.’”

The Fab Four hope to create a similar excitement when they come to The Phil on Saturday. Because, let’s face it: If you haven’t seen the real deal already, you never will.

The Fab Four may be the next best thing.

The sold-out show recreates The Beatles from their moptop days to their Sgt. Pepper regalia and hippie hair - and they do it while playing every single note. Even the LSD-drenched sounds from “Sgt. Pepper” are duplicated on keyboards, not with prerecorded tracks.

“Some guys look like John and Paul and they can’t play a note,” Sarraf says. “What good is that?”

The Fab Four strive for authenticity above all.

• From top: Rolo Sandoval as Ringo Starr; Ardy Sarraf as Paul McCartney; Ron McNeil as John Lennon; The Fab Four portray the younger Beatles; Gavin Leslie as George Harrison.

Take, for example, this feat of replication: After joining the band in 1997, the right-handed Sarraf learned to play guitar and bass guitar left-handed.

It took him more than six months, he says. But he did it.

“It wasn’t easy,” he says. “We’re trying to be authentic. As close as we can, anyway.”

The L.A.-based Fab Four wear the costumes, play replicas of the Beatles’ instruments and even mimic the Liverpool accents (actually, that’s easy for drummer Rolo Sandoval - aka “Ringo.” He’s actually from Liverpool).

The secret to being Paul?

“You’ve just got to keep those eyes open, nice and big, as big as you can,” Sarraf says. “And you’ve got to do the head bob.”

Of course, that’s a gross simplification. The members of The Fab Four have read dozens of books and watched as many movies and videos as they could get their hands on. Every mannerism, every head bob has to be just right.

For Ron McNeil, though, it all came more or less naturally. Even before he became a tribute artist, McNeil adored The Beatles and knew their every move by heart.

“I just knew how John would hold his guitar, and how he stands,” McNeil says. “It was a labor of love.”

The Fab Four got together in 1997. McNeil played in one L.A. tribute band, and Sarraf and Sandoval in another. They met at a Beatles convention and decided to form a sort of supergroup.

Guitarist Gavin Leslie later rounded them out as George.

McNeil says he was especially impressed the first time he heard Sarraf singing a Beatles song. He knew they were onto something big.

“I was getting chills,” he says. “I couldn’t believe how much he sounds like Paul McCartney. It was amazing.”

To this day, Sarraf remains the only Fab Four member to actually meet a Beatle.

Sarraf still cherishes his run-in with the real Paul. Even if he didn’t dare tell him he was in a tribute band.

“It felt weird,” he says. “I felt really weird about it.”

He did, however, show McCartney a T-shirt for his side project, a McCartney tribute band called Wings Band.

McCartney smiled at him and said in that distinctive Liverpool accent: “Wings Band. On the run, right?”

It wasn’t much - a little play on words with his former hit, “Band on the Run.” Nothing deep.

Still, Sarraf says he’ll always remember his McCartney encounter. In fact, he’s still kind of giddy about it.

“That was cool,” he says. “That was really cool.”