Nearly 61 years ago, on Feb. 9, 1964, Ed Sullivan introduced The Beatles to a huge American audience in their first-ever televised U.S. appearance.
No doubt, a few music fans in the sold-out crowd Saturday night at The Plaza Arts Center remembered that night as it was brought back to life by The Return, a Georgia-based Beatles tribute act that turned back time, if only for a couple of hours.
Led by Mike Fulup, who plays George Harrison and started the band in 1995 as a high school senior in Griffin, The Return also featured Richard Stelling as John Lennon, who joined in 2000 and also hails from Griffin. From nearby Pike County, Josh Blount played drums as Ringo Starr, and Nashville’s Mike Vargo performed as a compelling Paul McCartney, all the way down to his left-handed bass.
Fulup said at its peak touring pace, The Return played up to 100 gigs annually, but since Covid hit a few years back, the band has cut back to “probably about 40 shows a year.”
“We've been all over the world doing this,” Fulup said after meeting and greeting many fans in the lobby of The Plaza after the show. “We’ve been to Japan numerous times, Mexico, Canada, Grand Cayman, Switzerland, and we were just in England not too long ago. But we don’t travel quite as much anymore, just because we’re all getting a little older.”
Age was just a number on Saturday night, though, as the crowd danced and swayed through early Beatles numbers like “I Wanna’ Hold Your Hand,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” and “All My Loving.”
Following a brief intermission, the band moved into later Beatles numbers, including “Got to Get You Into My Life,” “Come Together,” “Here Comes the Sun,” and “Hey Jude.”
The show marked The Return’s debut at The Plaza, which Fulup called “a beautiful theater,” adding that Eatonton is fortunate to have it.
“I hope we get to come back,” he added. “It was a great crowd, and we had much fun here. A great place to play.”