For one night only, the Manitou Opera House welcomed the a cappella group, "Those Guys" who crooned their cover songs to an energetic crowd.

Current singers

After the two-hour show ended, the audience stood up and demanded an encore, to which the singers happily obliged.

"This audience was incredible," said tenor, Wes Rambo.

"One of the most energetic audiences we've had in months for sure. I was blown away by it."

A secret many people may not know about the performance Friday night was the lighting on stage was entirely improvised. There was no prior communication between the singers and the lighting technician at all. The group was highly impressed that everything worked so flawlessly.

Those Guys were brought to life from the imagination of tenor, Bernie Pastorin, back in 2009. Pastorin gathered a few friends together and they started making music with zero accompaniment.

"It's a group based out of friendship," said Pastorin.

While there has been some turn-over in members since 2009, the group has filled gaps with singers excited about a cappella. Despite differences in culture, personality, race, etc., they maintain a brotherly atmosphere.

"One of our strengths is that we've always had a really great connection with each other and I think we bring that to the stage," said Rambo.

"We love to share this stuff," Rambo added, "and if that gets across to the audience, then we did our job."

All eight singers currently live in Winnipeg, but are thrilled by the support they see coming from smaller communities in Southern Manitoba.

"I would never have been to any of these towns unless they had invited us, and now that we've come through these towns," said Pastorin, "I'm coming to the Sunflower Festival just as a spectator."

 

Those Guys performed a selection of music from various decades including some recent chart-toppers like "Shut Up And Dance"