‘Yesterday and Today’ concert hypes up the crowd
Brothers Ryan, left, Matthew and Billy McGuigan of Yesterday and Today Beatles tribute band brings the sounds of the Beatles to Saddleback College’s McKinney Theatre Friday evening. (Oliver Yu)
The interactive Beatles tribute, Yesterday & Today, came back by popular demand to perform at Saddleback College’s McKinney Theatre on March 11.
Natives of Nebraska, the band consists of seven members. They solely focus on playing songs of the legendary band, The Beatles.
The band plays in an interactive setting, where they play the songs requested by that night’s audience, leaving it up to the audience to determine the mood.
Member’s of the band are musically well rounded with four vocalists, three guitarists, two playing the keys, and one saxophone player.
With a group of this sort, the crowd got to hear all their favorite songs played quite similarly to the original.
Their performance has won the hearts of many local Californians, considering that this would be their second performance at Saddleback, the first one being just two months ago.
According to one of the vocalists of the band, Billy McGuigan, “the Californian crowd really gets what we’re all about” when explaining why they love performing in California.
Before the show began, the crowds went to the request table where request sheets and a list of The Beatles songs to choose from were provided.
The paper asked for the name of the requester, the song they would most like to hear, and why they chose the song so that the band of can dedicate the song to them before they performed the piece.
Guests then entered the theatre while chatting with family and friends, ate snacks, and anticipated seeing the band come on stage.
Some of The Beatles most well known songs such as “Taxman,” “And I Love Her,” and “Yellow Submarine” were requested by the audience of mixed age groups.
“I have seen them perform before, I think they do a pretty good job at reenacting all the songs,” said fellow audience member Nolan Duino, 18, business administration. “My favorite performance tonight has been ‘Here Comes The Sun.'”
After numerous songs were played, the band took a break from requests to give the spotlight to three brothers within the band.
As a tribute to the McGuigan brothers’ late father who loved The Beatles’ music and spread his love to his boys as well, they played his favorite song, Because.
While performing, the audience listened in silence, followed by a strong applause for the close brothers.
The McGuigans said they believe that they are living out the dream that their father always had for his sons.
After a much needed intermission for the band to freshen up, the band took on more requests, performed some encores and relived the spirit of The Beatles for their audience.
Grandparents with their grandchildren, teens with their parents, and couples of all ages came to see this event.
The audience danced, sang along, and laughter echoed throughout the theater, proving that the night’s performance was another success for the band.
For some, the show might have been a second chance to hear beloved songs of their past or might have been a chance for younger audiences to hear for the first time the songs that have changed the face of music.
For others though, it might have simply been the perfect opportunity to spend time with loved ones while hearing one of McKinney Theatre’s most popular performances.