The Beatles live: Majestic Ballroom, Birkenhead

This was the 13th of The Beatles’ 17 concert appearances at the Majestic Ballrom in Birkenhead, and their last of 1962.

They played two shows on this night. The first was a conventional booking, but the second was the first Mersey Beat poll awards show.

The second show began at midnight, and The Beatles took to the stage at 4am to close the show. They won the Mersey Beat popularity poll for the second year running.

Also on the bill at the second show were Lee Curtis and the All-Stars, who performed immediately before The Beatles. The All-Stars’ drummer was Pete Best, who had been sacked from The Beatles in August 1962.

The Majestic Ballroom was owned by Top Rank, Britain’s largest entertainment organisation at the time, which ran ballrooms, cinemas, theatres and bingo halls around the country. The Beatles played at 12 of the company’s 28 ballrooms.

Their other performances at the venue took place on 28 June; 5, 12, 19 and 28 July; 17 and 24 August; 8 and 22 September; 15 October; 22 and 29 November 1962; and 17 and 31 January; 21 February; and 10 April 1963.