Sunday night I caught Beatles tribute band Classical Mystery Tour‘s performance at Music Hall with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. My brother has an Enjoy the Arts membership and since his girlfriend could not join him for the show I got to go instead. I had never heard of Enjoy the Arts before, but I now know it is the ideal gift for anyone aged 35 and younger. Worth almost $1,000, Enjoy the Arts members get free tickets to cool arts and a great way to experience the city all year-long for a fee of $50 ($35 for students with ID).

The performance started with a ten minute Cincinnati Pops medley overture of Beatles songs. From there the four members of Classical Mystery Tour arrived on stage to perform with the orchestra. The highlights of the first set were mostly from the Magical Mystery Tour album, including “All You Need Is Love,” “Penny Lane,” and “Hello, Goodbye” because of the amount of orchestration on the studio versions of each song.

Beatles Music With Orchestra

The band had a number of costume changes with wardrobes spanning the Beatles career. And while they certainly looked the part, it was amazing how close their voices sounded so familiar and spot on. Orchestral highlights from the second set included “A Day in the Life,” as well as “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and even Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die.” They also threw in hugely popular songs such as “Imagine,” “Something,” and “Hey Jude.”

This was a one-night-only show but it seems the band is on tour often, so be sure to catch them their next time through town. You will not be disappointed.