And Sandy From Omaha Requests…

“In 2009 when I first met my Colorado husband…” was how I began my song request.

The concert was here in Durango and the band was a favorite of ours from Omaha. Thrilled to have my two lives from two different cities converge, I signed my request sheet “Sandy from Omaha”.

The band, Yesterday and Today, tour nationally but were formed in Omaha, Nebraska. I love this Beatles band and have been to at least six of their concerts back in my Omaha days. Not only do they nail the entire Beatles song catalog, but their show is an interactive experience. They play song requests from their dancing and energetic audience.

The charismatic lead singer, Billy, is one of three McGuigan brothers who play in the band. A military family, they were raised all over the world, ultimately landing in Omaha. Their dad was a huge Beatles fan. He shared his musical love with his sons by teaching them to play instruments and sing to the Beatles music he adored. Their dad tragically died of cancer at age 41, but his legacy lives through the talent of his sons and sharing this musical joy with their audiences across the country.

I was thrilled when I heard Yesterday and Today was added to the musical line-up at our local concert hall. My new home is Durango, Colorado. Having lived here a mere three years, I am still a newbie compared to my thirty years in Omaha. Still connected via social media with many of my Omaha friends, I received many reminder posts that this Omaha favorite would be coming to Durango.

My husband, Garrett, is also a big fan of Yesterday and Today. One of our early Omaha dates was spent on our feet dancing to classic Beatles tunes belted out perfectly by the McGuigan brothers. Hand-holding was a must. We brought our collective kids to a concert a year later and picked up another show together after we were married, for old times’ sake.

This year we quickly purchased our tickets in anticipation of reliving cherished memories from Omaha now in Durango. As the concert date approached, I continued to get reminder messages from Nebraska, making sure I did not miss this event.

Remembering that I had also taken my parents to a Yesterday and Today performance, my mom beamed when I told her about the upcoming Durango show.

Mom: “Ohhhh…they are so good. You will have so much fun.”

Memories came back to me of my mom skillfully doing the twist during the show and then on her feet dancing until the show’s end. My parents grew up with the Beatles, a part of Beatlemania. This was their generation. The music especially means a lot to Mom with her many stories of how the girls were ‘nuts’ over the Fab Four and their music. Every song takes her back to the 60s.

When the concert day finally arrived, Garrett and I attended with new Durango friends and then ran into more local friends upon arriving at the Concert Hall. None had ever been to a Yesterday and Today show. They were in for a treat.

Giddy as a schoolgirl, I went straight to the designated table to put in my song request. With so many Beatles and Yesterday and Today memories, I needed to narrow it down to one song, a favorite inspiration. With no hesitation, I wrote down the song “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

My request read “In 2009 when I first met my Colorado husband, we would drive up the mountains to ski listening to the Beatles #1 CD over and over, always holding my hand.”

Garrett and I dated for five years before we got married. It was a long-distance relationship with 550 miles separating our homes in Denver and Omaha. We shared the same ‘off’ weekends of parenting. In divorce decrees with children, weekend swaps between parents are typical with one weekend ‘on’ with kids and the next weekend ‘off’. With Garrett and my ‘off’ weekends mirroring each other, we would book flights to be together on these childless weekends.

Winter weekends brought me to Colorado more often with us traveling up to into the mountains for a weekend of skiing. Although we loved our time in the ski towns and on the powdery slopes, the drive back to Denver was not as fun. Getting stuck in traffic back on Sundays was a norm.

Our dating years spanned from 2009-2014. We were still listening to CDs back then with our favorite, the Beatles album “1”, which is a compilation of their number one hits. We would play this CD on our way down the mountain, almost always battling the slow-paced traffic. But always holding hands, we would sing along to our favorite Beatles tunes over and over. There was no road angst as we savored the last few hours of our weekend together. The next stop would be my drop off at the Denver airport and another long two weeks before we would be together again.

Our love for the Yesterday and Today concerts is embedded with Garrett and my Beatles beginnings. I still have the tie-dyed concert t-shirt I purchased 15 years ago. Not only have I held on to this shirt over all these years and through various moves, but I proudly wear it often. Matching my vintage concert shirt with Durango attire of a western jean skirt and cowboy boots, I was concert ready.

Early in the show, my request was pulled.

“And Sandy from Omaha…” shouted Billy McGuigan to the crowd.

As he read my request to the audience, I sat listening in joyful glee.

“In 2009 when I first met my Colorado husband…”

“Is that what you call him?”

His question was directed to me.

Billy then laughed and shared with the audience, “If you are from Nebraska, that’s what we call you. Colorado people. My Colorado Husband. And my Colorado friends.”

We spent the rest of the concert dancing our Beatles butts off. Newbies to my favored band, my Colorado friends have quickly become groupies as well. Colorado friends…Nebraska friends…Colorado husband. Yesterday and today. All coming together. Right now…

I think I can drop my use of state labels going forward. We all blend nicely regardless of mailing address. Memories and friendships are more about feelings than the place. And great music is a common thread to bring them all together.