Fab Four Blog

The Beatles flew out of Brisbane, changing planes again in Sydney. After refueling stops in Singapore and Frankfurt, their Quantas flight touched down at London Airport on July 2nd.

The Beatles’ 1964 world tour ended on this night, with two shows at the Festival Hall in Brisbane. Each of the concerts was seen by 5,500 fans.

During the day they took two hire cars to the Gold Coast, where they spent time relaxing on a stretch of sand between Broadbeach and Surfers Paradise.

Th...

Festival Hall, Charlotte St. Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Four shows over two nights, each before 5500 people, closed the Beatles hectic tour of the Antipodes.

The Beatles flew out of Christchurch for Sydney, Australia, switching planes in Auckland. From Sydney they changed planes again, landing in Brisbane just after midnight.

Majestic Theatre, Manchester St. Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand

Around 5,000 fans greeted The Beatles as their aeroplane from Dunedin landed in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The fans were also lined up along the route The Beatles’ limousine took to the Clarendon Hotel in Christchurch city c...

Town Hall, Moray Place, Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand

Two shows in this 4000 seater town hall. The flight from Auckland to Dunedin had been an anxious one following an anonymous threat that a "germ bomb" had been placed somewhere on board the plane.

Town Hall, Queen St. Auckland, North Island, New Zealand

Four shows over two nights, seen by a total of 10,000 people.

The Beatles attended a civic reception held by Auckland’s mayor Dove-Myer Robinson at the Town Hall, prior to their performances there in the evening.

Mayor Robinson held the ev...

Town Hall, Queen St. Auckland, North Island, New Zealand

Four shows over two nights, seen by a total of 10,000 people.

Town Hall, Cuba St. Wellington, North Island, New Zealand

The Beatles performing two shows tonight.

Town Hall, Cuba St. Wellington, North Island, New Zealand

Four shows in Wellington, two per night, at the 2500 seat Town Hall, kicked off the Beatle's seven day visit to New Zealand, to where they had flown from Sydney on the 21st. His cords recovered from tonsillitis, Ringo resumed his one-vocal-p...

On this day The Beatles flew from Sydney Airport to Auckland, New Zealand.

As The Beatles prepared to leave Suite 801 of Sydney’s Chevron Hotel, they heard a tap on the windows. It was Peter Roberts, a 20-year-old Liverpudlian living in Australia, who had scaled eight storeys in darkness via the ho...

Today, at their Sydney hotel, the Beatles recorded a telephone conversation for broadcast a week later (Saturday, June 27, 5:00 to 6:30 pm) back in Britain on the BBC Light Programme show Roundabout, chatting to the programme's compere Colin Hamilton. The interview was split into three sections for ...

The second day of three nights at the Stadium in Sydney.

Stadium, Rushcutter's Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

The Beatles returned to Sydney from Melbourne for six shows over three nights, with 12,000 fans - the biggest pop concert audience in Sydney at that time, packing into the Stadium on each occasion.

Typically, newsreel cameras were allow...

The Beatles’ final two shows in Melbourne, Australia took place on this day.

In the afternoon George Harrison went driving in an MG in the Dandenong Mountains with tour organiser Lloyd Ravenscroft. Concerned with more important matters, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr had their hair cu...

On The Beatles’ second night of performances in Melbourne, Australia, they gave two concerts at the city’s Festival Hall.

Their repertoire during this part of the world tour consisted of 10 songs: I Saw Her Standing There, I Want To Hold Your Hand, You Can’t Do That, All My Loving, She Loves You, ...

At 8am on the morning of 15 June 1964, Jimmie Nicol left the Southern Cross Hotel on Bourke Street, Melbourne. Accompanied by Brian Epstein, he was driven to the airport where he was given a final agreed fee of £500, as well as a gold watch with the engraving: “To Jimmy, with appreciation and gratit...

Ringo rejoined the Beatles in Melbourne on June 14th 1964 following his ten day hospital recovery from accute tonsilitis. As Ringo Starr and Brian Epstein arrived in Melbourne, they witnessed the beginnings of the incredible gathering that would greet the other Beatles arrival later that afternoon. ...

In Adelaide at Centennial Hall, the group gave their first four shows in Australia, over two nights, the repertoire identical to that performed in Denmark, the Netherlands and Hong Kong. Fifty thousand applications arrived for 12,000 seats here.

In exchange for a handsome fee, NEMS permitted one of...

The day after they landed on Australian soil, The Beatles flew from Sydney to Adelaide in a chartered Ansett ANA jet, arriving at 11.57am.

An estimated 200,000 people lined the 10-mile route between Adelaide Airport and the city centre in the hope of seeing The Beatles’ motorcade. More than 30,000...

On June 11th 1964, the three Beatles and Jimmy Nicol traveled overnight from Hong Kong to Sydney, arriving down under at around 7:30am. Despite the heavy rain and winds, the Beatles agreed to be paraded on a flatbed truck so that their fans waiting at the airport would not be disappointed. The Beatl...

A New mono mix of "I'll Be Back" was prepared between 10:00 and 11:00 in studio two at Abbey Road this morning - in the Beatle's absence, of course.

The Complete Beatles Chronicle - ML

Princess Theatre, Un Chau St. Kowloon, Hong Kong

Two "houses" at the 1700 seater Princess Theatre in Kowloon. Beatlemania was evident even here in the Orient. Neither performance here was sold out, principally because of the high ticket price, HK $75, set by the local promoter without the knowledge...

BBC re-broadcasts 'Around The Beatles'.

Brian flies back to London and announces that Gerry and the Pacemakers will star in their own Christmas show.

Vara TV (Holland) screens the 5 June 1964 recording.

On the morning of 7 June 1964 The Beatles flew from Amsterdam to Hong Kong, a journey which took in refueling stops in several countries and lasted more than 24 hours.

The group first flew back to London Airport where their connecting flight was postponed for an hour to allow them to catch it. Onc...

KB Hallen, Peter Bangsvej, Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, Denmark

Two shows (at 6:00 and 9:30 pm), each seen by 4400 people, kicked-off the Beatle's 27-day world tour, which spanned Denmark, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand. For the first five dates, Copenhagen through to Adelaide...

Vellinghal Op Hoop Van Zegen, Veilingweg, Blokker, The Netherlands

Two shows in an auction hall in Blokker, 40 km north of Amsterdam, near Hoorn, a 2:30 matinee attended by only 2000 fans and a 7:00 pm performance for which all of the 7000 tickets were sold. The Beatles appeared on stage at 4:30 an...

Cafe-Restaurant Treslong, Vosselaan, Hillegom, The Netherlands

The Beatle's first duty in Holland following their 1:00 pm arrival and press conference at Schiphol airport, Amsterdam, was to tape a performance for VARA-t, one of the group's best television appearances of all. For this they were driv...

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

The Beatle's work at EMI Studios on this date can be separated into two distinct sections: 3:00-4:00 pm rehearsing and 5:30-9:30 pm recording.

The afternoon rehearsal, which was not taped, replaced a pre-booked 2:30-5:30 recording session and was swiftly arranged by...

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

Two more sessions, each running 15 minutes over the booked times of 10:00 am-1:00 pm and 2:30-5:30 pm. Songs taped this time were John's "Any Time at All" and "When I Get Home" (11 takes each) and Paul's "Things We Said Today" (3 takes), all for the second side of th...