THE Beatles appeared on a total of six pop package tours of the UK between the beginning of February 1963 and their final one in December 1965... and they played in Sheffield on every one.
They appeared here at the City Hall five times.
They first took the stage here on Saturday, March 2, 1963. They weren’t headliners yet. Top of the bill was Helen Shapiro, but The Beatles were rivalling her for attention as Please Please Me, their second single, raced up the charts.The song was one of four numbers belted out by the Fabs that night - the other three being Chains and A Taste Of Honey from their debut LP and the song Keep Your Hands Off My Baby, which they recorded only for BBC radio.
Also appearing on this tour were Danny Williams, of Moon River fame, and Kenny Lynch. The compere went on to make quite a name for himself too - comedian Dave Allen became a television favourite, with millions regularly tuning in to his shows. As was customary on these tours, there were two performances. The first was at 6.10pm and the second at 8.40pm. Your passport to the stars was counted in shillings, rather than pounds. City Hall prices to see the Beatles that night were Circle: 5s 6d, 6s 6d and 8s 6d. These were the top prices (although there was no rattling of jewellery). Stalls tickets started at 4s and went up in stages to 5s 6d ,7s and 8s 6d. Balcony seats were 5s, or you could slum it on the Platform for a mere 3s 6d.
Sheffield teenagers who missed that show had only a fortnight to wait to make up for it, for The Beatles were back on the City Hall stage on Saturday, March 16, on a package starring American rock ’n’ rollers Chris Montez and Tommy Roe. And what’s more, in those inflation friendly times, the price didn’t go up! This time The Beatles sang six songs - all from their debut Please Please Me LP - they were Love Me Do, Misery, A Taste Of Honey, Do You Want To Know A Secret, Please Please Me and I Saw Her Standing There.
Montez and Roe were officially the star acts, but by the time the tour hit the City Hall it was The Beatles who were attracting the screams and closing the show.
It was a similar story on May 25 when The Beatles returned. This was billed as the Roy Orbison show, but soon into the tour there was a reprint of the programmes, with The Beatles now appearing at the top in glorious red lettering. This show provided fantastic value for money for those star-struck teenagers. On the bill with The Big O and The Beatles were Gerry and the Pacemakers, whose first three singles all went to Number One.
Sheffield teenager Irene Snidall had a particularly memorable evening. She accompanied a reporter on a complimentary pass backstage at the City Hall to meet The Beatles. All four signed her precious copy of their debut album Please Please Me.
The Sheffield fans were particularly lucky to be able to witness these very early shows. The screaming hadn’t become deafening yet and it was still possible to hear The Beatles sing!
And the numbers they heard them sing? The Beatles threw in Cavern favourite Some Other Guy, Do You Want To Know A Secret, Love Me Do, From Me To You, Please Please Me, I Saw Her Standing There and Twist And Shout.
By the time the Fab Four made their fourth package tour appearance at the City Hall - on Saturday, November 2, 1963, Beatlemania was in full flow. She Loves You had topped the charts for four weeks and was to make an unprecedented return to the top for another two weeks. I Want To Hold Your Hand, released just a few weeks later on November 29, would spend five weeks at Number One. Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers, The Vernons Girls and The Kestrels were among the other acts on this tour.
The Beatles played ten songs this night - I Saw Her Standing There, From Me To You, All My Loving, You Really Got A Hold On Me, Roll Over Beethoven, Boys, Till There Was You, She Loves You, Money and the show-closer Twist And Shout.
Sheffield Star reporter Francis Mullins wrote of Sheffield going “Beatle-barmy” and of how 4,000 teenagers screamed themselves hoarse during the two shows. Fainting normally accompanied the screaming, and there were three casualties this night.
Trainee journalist Anthea Linacre, 18, a former head girl of Dore and Totley High School in Sheffield, got to cover the show for the local press. The Beatles made a swift exit at the end of the night, running out of a side door, still in their stage suits and with a police escort to their car. Fans spilled outside and police loudhailer announcements that The Beatles had left the building made no difference… 250 were still hanging around at midnight, but by this time The Beatles were already at their hotel in Doncaster.
It was a full year before The Beatles toured the UK again, and they appeared at the City Hall exactly one year and one week after their previous visit. The date was November 9, 1964. Peter and Jeff Stringfellow had called in at Brian Epstein’s London office to ensure that Sheffield was on the itinerary and the Fab Four’s manager was as good as his word. This was a shorter tour but the excitement was still at fever pitch. The Fabs brought Mary Wells along this time, having been impressed with her summer blockbuster My Guy. Fellow Liverpudlian Tommy Quickly was with them, as were Sounds Incorporated and The Remo Four.
The Beatles sang ten numbers at The City Hall that night - Twist And Shout, Money, Can’t Buy Me Love, Things We Said Today, I’m Happy Just To Dance With You, I Should Have Know Better, If I Fell, I Wanna Be Your Man, A Hard Day’s Night and Long Tall Sally. The Beatles stayed at the Park Hall Residential Country Club in Spinhill that night, having arrived there by helicopter earlier in the day.
This was The Beatles last pop package date at the City Hall, but they were back in Sheffield on Wednesday, December 8, 1965, to play a show with a line-up that included The Moody Blues at The Gaumont Cinema. Their first appearance in Sheffield had been at The Arena Ballroom on Tuesday, February 12, 1963, just a few weeks before their debut performance at the City Hall on that Helen Shapiro tour.
This information has been compiled with the help of Martin Creasy, author of the book Legends On Tour - The Pop Package Tours of The 1960s. |
