Beatles Gigs 1963 Jan-June

JANUARY - JULY

BEATLES GIGS 1963

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A return to Scotland - as was said, a very wet, miserable outing for me. The show at Longmore Hall, Keith on 2nd Jan, was cancelled due to bad weather - sounds familiar !

3rd Jan saw them at The Two Red Shoes Ballroom, Elgin

Town Hall, Dingwall on 4th Jan (courtesy of Chris)

5th Jan at The Museum Hall, Bridge of Allan

and finally The Sea Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen, 6th Jan again courtesy of Chris

Jan 11th saw them play Plaza Ballroom, Old Hill, Dudley then were supposed to plsy Ritz Ballroom, Kings Heath, but bad weather stopped them playing the 2nd gig, which was re-arranged for 15th Feb

Jan 12th saw them at the Invicta Ballroom, formerley cinema, Chatham which was demolished in 1987.Photo is from Phillip McDougals book, A century of Chatham. *

Jan 14th Ellesmere Port Civic Hall.

Not very interesting this one ! 19th Jan saw them at the Town Hall Ballroom, Whitchurch - the present council building bears no resemblance to the original, but I've been there anyway, however Dr Judith Hoyle from Whitchurch Archives sent me the interior shot.

24th Jan, the Assembly Hall, Mold

Jan 25th they played the Co-operative Hall, Darwen, which is now demolished & is Iceland, however I am indebted to Ian Gillibrand of the Darwen Heritage Centre who sent me the photos of the building before demolision - "The Co-operative building was a impressive structure that ran almost the full length of School Street up to the Library. It housed the Co-operative Hall in the left side of the building and the Industrial Hall to the right, both had beautiful interiors and it was a sad loss to the town when it was lost to a fire. Underneath had various shop interiors under the Co-op banner i.e. Butcher, millenary and clothes etcThe Co-operative building was a impressive structure that ran almost the full length of School Street up to the Library. It housed the Co-operative Hall in the left side of the building and the Industrial Hall to the right, both had beautiful interiors and it was a sad loss to the town when it was lost to a fire. Underneath had various shop interiors under the Co-op banner i.e. Butcher, millenary and clothes etc.The B&W photo is from the late 1960's I think, the colour ones were taken in 1989, 001 shows the Co-operative hall side, 002 shows the Industrial Hall side. The Co-operative Hall became Tiffany's and the Industrial Hall became the Nocturne" Thanks Ian

26th Jan they played the El Rio Dance Hall (right as was and now - Aldi car park ), Macclesfield, which is now long gone., and Kings Hall, Stoke on Trent, to which they returned on April 19th.

Majestic Ballroom, Newcastle -played here 28th Jan & 26th June 63.

A double bill on 1st Feb, at Assembly Rooms, Tamworth and below, left, Maney Hall, Sutton Coldfield - played only once at both venues.

Gaumont, Bradford - 1st night of their 1st nationwide tour, headed by Helen Shapiro, 2nd of Feb. Twice more on 21st Dec &9th Oct 1964..

Gaumont, Doncaster 5th Feb

6th Feb saw them at the Gaumont, Bedford, which may have been demolished.

7th Feb, the Regal, Wakefield - I know I've been but can't find my photo yet ! *

ABC, Carlisle, 8th Feb, courtesy of Chris

The last show of the 1st leg of the Shapiro tour at the Empire, Sunderland on 9th Feb.The Empire, incidentally, is where Sid James suffered a heart attack while performing, and died

12th Feb saw them at Azena Ballroom, Sheffield an Astoria Ballroom, Oldham, playing both venues just once.

Originally called the Liverpool Olympia, they played here 14th Feb, although they did play here as the Quarrymen in the late 50's.

Carfax Assembly Rooms, Oxford, 16th Feb, they played here just once.

20th Feb, St James St. Baths, Doncaster

Resumption of the Helen Shapiro tour, having missed the last one on 10/2/63 at Peterborough Embassy due to recording commitments the following morning. 23rd Feb Granada, Mansfield, now Primark

Coventry Theatre, formerly the Hippodrome, 24th Feb

Casino Ballroom, Leigh, 25th Feb, a NEMS enterprises dance booking.

Granada, Taunton on 26th Feb. Shapiro was ill & Danny Williams stood in at top of the bill.

Helen Shapiro was still ill for the Rialto Theatre, York on 27th Feb, which was demolished in 2003

Shapiro resumed the tour here at the Granada, Shrewsbury on 28th Feb. Meanwhile, on the way from York, John & Paul had written From Me To You !

1st March,Odeon Cinema, Southport, demolished 28.11.79

2nd March, Sheffield City Hall.

3rd March, the final night of the Shapiro tour at Gaumont Cinema, Hanley -it's now the Regent Theatre.

Brian Epstein bought them & Gerry & The Pacemakers,The Big Three & Billy J Kramer & The Dakotas here on 7th March. 80 turned up at the Elizabethan Ballroom, Nottingham (top floor of th Co-Op building) billed as the NEMS Mersey Beat Showcase (no.1)

One gig here at the Royal Hall, Harrogate on 9th March.

The start of their 2nd Nationwide tor, Tommy Roe & Chris Montez topping the bill, kicking off on 9th March at the Granada, East Ham

12th March they returned to Granada, Bedford, which, as I said above, is questionable of it's whereabouts. (No Lennon - sick with cold)

13th March they returned to The Rialto, York.(No Lennon again)

Lennon returned for this one at Colston Hall, Bristol on 15th March

16th March, City Hall, Sheffield

17th March, Embassy, Peterborough

Regal, Gloucester, 18th March

20th March ABC, Romford, now demolished for flats.

19th March, Regal, Cambridge

21st March, ABC, W Croydon

22nd March, Gaumont, Doncaster

23rd March City Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne., they played 4 times here, right up until 4th Dec 1965.

27th March, ABC, Northampton

28th March ABC Exeter, demolished 1987

30th March Guildhall, Portsmouth

31st March. The final night of the Roe/Montez tour - I've played here !

4th April, they appeared at Roxburg Hall, Stowe School.

5th April saw them at Leyton Swimming Baths, which is now demolished and is Tesco's.

6th April, Pavillion Gardens Ballroom, Buxton

7th April, Savoy Ballroom, Southsea

9th April, Gaumont Ballroom, Kilburn

Co-Op Hall, Middleton, 11th April

15th April, Riverside Dance Club, Tenbury Wells

18th April saw them perform at the Royal Albert Hall, in 2 sections, the Swinging Sound 63, along with Del Shannon, Springfields, Rolf Harris, Shane Fenton, Kenny Lynch, Vernon Girls, Lance Percival & George Melly. They returned 15th Sept.

20th April, 1 gig here at the Merseyview, Frodsham.

21st April, Empire Pool, Wembley. in the NME Awards Concert, headed by Cliff & The Shadows.They played 4 songs, and afterwards they went on to the Pigalle Club, Piccadilly, which has since moved and re opened after it's closure in the 70's.

BEATLES STUFF

19th April saw them return to Kings Hall, Stoke for NEMS Mersey Beat Showcase (no.2)

Majestic Ballroom, Finsbury Park, 24th April for NEMS Mersey Beat Showcase (no.3)

25th April Fairfield Hall, Croydon, another (no.4) NEMS Mersey Beat Showcase. They returned here on 7th Sept & the Delaney * Bonnie tour played here 7th Dec 1969, with George & Clapton

11th May they played the Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, which was demolished in 1976 (above - queuing at 'The Imp')

15th May the Royalty Theatre, Chester.

Adelphi Cinema, Slough, 18th May.

19th May, Gaumont, Hanley

20th May, Gaumont, Southampton

May 22nd Gaumont Cinema, Ipswich

23rd May, Odeon, Nottingham, now closed & up for sale

24th May Granada, Walthamstowe

25th May, City Hall, Sheffield & 26th May back home to the Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

28th May, Gaumont, Worcester

30th May, Mancester Odeon, closed for business in 2004.They only played here once.

Southend Odeon, 31st May

1st June, Tooting Granada, a truly impressive building inside.

2nd June, Brighton Hippodrome

3rd June, Woolwich Granada

4th June, Birmingham Town Hall

5th June, Odeon Leeds

7th June, Odeon Glasgow and 8th June, City Hall, Newcastle

...and the final night of the Roy Orbison tour, 9th June at King Georges Hall, Blackburn - Gabrielle was appearing when I went.

10th June, Bath Pavillion

Palace Theatre, Stockport (L) & later Southern Sporting Club, Manchester (R), only 1 gig at each, with more details of the now gone S S Club, 13th June.

City Hall, Salisbury, 15th June

16th June, Odeon, Romford

21st June, Odeon, Guildford

22nd June, Town Hall Ballroom, Abergavenny - Lennon flew in by helicopter after recording Juke Box Jury in London.

25th June Astoria Ballroom, Middlesborough

30th June ABC Great Yarmouth, as it was, demolished 1988 - and as it is now.

1st Nationwide Tour with Helen Shapiro headlining

fOUND A LOVELY LITTLE SITE ABOUT HELEN'S TOURING - TAKE A LOOK

2nd Nationwide Tour with TOMMY ROE & CHRIS MONTEZ

10th March saw them at the Hippodrome, Birmingham. They played there 10th Nov 1963 as well. I have visited the area, but it was at the time undergoing a massive rebuild.