The sounds of the 1960s filled McInnis auditorium when The Return took the stage in front of a mostly older, but excited, crowd.
The band looked like The Beatles, with shaggy hair and trim suits. Some of the crowd members even came dressed as The Beatles on the cover of their Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, including a woman dressed as the infamous Yoko Ono.
The Return really got into character when they performed, referring to each other as John, Paul, George and Ringo.
They even did some of The Beatles’ on-stage banter and mannerisms like the signature bow-legged way John Lennon stood and held his guitar. Their sometimes corny accents added to the very Beatle-like performance.
The band sang a variety of Beatles’ hits such as “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Twist and Shout” and “Help” along with a few lesser-known songs like “Tax Man.”
The audience really got into the performance by singing and clapping along. Some yelled out things like, “Yeah George,” and a few women even ran onto the stage at the end of the show.
The group’s instruments were authentic, and the bass guitarist even played left-handed like Paul McCartney.
Even though The Return did not sound exactly like The Beatles, they put on a great show. They got the crowd involved and proved to have really studied The Beatles’ music and performance techniques.
It was as if the band members believed they actually were The Beatles, and the crowd cheered them on throughout the show.
It was not quite as crazy as the Beatlemania of the ‘60s, but the Eastern community got to have a taste of what a Beatles’ performance may have been like when The Return stopped by for their Oct. 23 show.