Beatles Tribute Band Returns Home to Largo

Three brothers in, Yesterday and Today: The Interactive Beatles Experience, return home to Largo this weekend when they play at the March 30 at 8 p.m.

From a military family, Largo was home base for Billy McGuigan, 37, and his brothers- Ryan McGuigan, 34 and Matthew McGuigan, 31. Their grandparents moved to Largo in 1979 and Largo became the common thread for the brothers' childhood as their father's military service took them around the globe.

"My first school memories are at and my brothers graduated from Gibbs High School," Billy McGuigan said.

Friday's concert will be the brother's first indoor concert in Largo. They played on the Largo Cultural Center's rooftop at a .

"We all loved (the rooftop concert) even Ryan who is afraid of heights. It was a really great experience. We are looking forward to (Friday's concert). When you are a little kid, you always dream of coming home to play," Billy McGuigan said.

The brothers' love for music developed at home through their father William McGuigan. He owned every Beatles album even the obscure ones. When William McGuigan passed away in 1996, after a courageous battle with leukemia, the brothers wanted to create a living tribute to their father through the music he loved.

"My dad is the inspiration for the music...We always wanted to do a Beatles Tribute show for him but not with wigs and accents," Billy McGuigan said.

The McGuigan brothers' Beatle Tribute show is unique because the songs are based on audience requests. Before the show concertgoers write down a song they would like to hear along with the reason they want to hear the song. The band compiles the show's set list five minutes before they go on stage. (The brothers perform with Jason Ferguson, George Laughery and Darren Pettit).

The show has become "more than a Beatles Tribute. It is not just music. It is so much more than that," Billy McGuigan said.

Billy McGuigan recalls when a woman asked the band to play, "Hey Jude," which is an often requested song. She shared how when she was seven or eight, her brother died in Vietnam and the mourners gathered around his grave and sang "Hey Jude."

"The reasons for the requests take it from being just a song to being really special. As a musician you just add emotion to it just naturally," Billy McGuigan said.

If you go:

What: Yesterday and Today: The Interactive Beatles Experience

Where: Largo Cultural Center, 105 Central Park Drive, Largo

When: March 30 at 8 p.m.

Cost: in advance, $32 day of show