They loved them, yeah, yeah, yeah

Beatlemania finally arrived live and in person in Eunice 50 years after the band first landed on U.S. soil at John F. Kennedy International Airport in February 1964.
“I’m 16 all over again,” said Donna Baltakis as she welcomed Beatles tribute band Cavern Beat to the stage at LSU Eunice’s Health Technology Auditorium on Monday. “If you hear someone screaming or singing off beat, it’s me. I know the words to every song.”
The Chicago-based tribute band played classics like “Love Me Do” and “Hey Jude” for about 150 people, and the crowd was made up of many who have been Beatles fans for the last half century.
“I can remember my sisters listening to the music and seeing the girls fainting on television,” said Tina Hensgens as she and her husband Dale waited for the show to start. “My favorite song of theirs is ‘Eleanor Rigby.’ It’s probably not a typical favorite. Most people probably like a lot of their other music.”
While the Hensgens may share a Beatles bond, Dale’s favorite song is the well-known ballad “Hey Jude.”
“They were popular when I was a young puppy,” Dale said, laughing. “I was a freshman in high school when they came over.”
Many of those in the crowd showed their love for the “British Invasion” by wearing Beatles t-shirts, including LSU Eunice student Trey Schexnayder, who had on his Abbey Road shirt.
“I’m a huge Beatles fan,” Schexnayder, of Kaplan, said. “My parents listened to their music when I was a kid, especially my mom.”
“It would be so tough to pick a favorite song of theirs, so I have no favorite.”
In addition to catching Cavern Beat, Schexnayder also recently saw Paul McCartney perform at the Smoothie Center in New Orleans.
“I’m a big Paul McCartney fan, too,” he said. “The Beatles were just so diverse. There was no limit to what they did.”
The tribute band was founded in 2005, and current members are Jeffery “Ringo” Gish from Milwaukee, Wis., Jim “John” Irizary from Chicago, John “Paul” Manier from Schwartz Creek, Mich., and A.J. “George” Tscherne of Toledo, Ohio. The band is named after the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England. The Beatles played more shows at the club than anywhere else in their whole career.
The band performs using only their own voices, drums, Vox amplifiers and guitars that are exact replicas of the Beatles’ equipment. Their catalog includes more than 140 songs from the Cavern Club days to the album “Let It Be.”
“I’m a Beatles fan,” Gish said. “That’s what really gets you into it -- the love of the music and love of the band.”
Gish has played in Beatles tribute bands since the 1980s, and he joined Cavern Beat in 2013. Like Gish, Irizary and Manier also played with other tribute bands before joining Cavern Beat.
“I am the biggest Beatles fan,” Irizary said, “I started a Beatles tribute band in 2002. Then I saw Cavern Beat perform and joined them in 2005.”
“I just answered an ad in the newspaper,” Manier said, laughing.
This was the band’s first time to perform in Eunice, and the group has traveled to Florida, the Dakotas, California, Canada and even Liverpool, bringing Beatlemania to the masses.
“Our performance went over well in Liverpool,” Gish said. “We headlined the Mathew Street Music Festival during Beatle Week. We played for 8,000 people.