This was the final date of The Beatles’ first UK tour, with teenager singer Helen Shapiro headlining.
While they had begun the tour at the bottom of the bill, the success of the ‘Please Please Me’ single helped The Beatles move up to become the final act of the concert’s first half. Beatlemania hadn’t quite begun, but it wasn’t far off.
The Beatles played at the Gaumont in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, once again, on their tour with Roy Orbison on 19 May 1963. They performed in Stoke-on-Trent on two other occasions, in January and April 1963.
The Gaumont Theatre opened in February 1929 as the Regent Theatre, with 1,372 seats in the stalls and 812 in the circle. It was renamed the Gaumont in 1950, but became the Odeon in 1976.
It closed as a cinema in October 1989, but reopened in September 1998 as The Regent Theatre and Victoria Hall.
Also on this day...
- 2021: Abbey Road street sign sells for £37,200
- 2015: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Movistar Arena, Santiago
- 2009: John Lennon artworks to go on show in Edinburgh
- 1999: Recording: Honey Hush, Lonesome Town, Run Devil Run by Paul McCartney
- 1990: Paul McCartney live: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo
- 1968: Ringo Starr arrives back in England
- 1967: Recording, mixing: Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
- 1966: Brian Epstein announces The Beatles’ 1966 tours
- 1965: Filming: Help!, the Bahamas
- 1964: Mixing: I Should Have Known Better, If I Fell, Tell Me Why, And I Love Her, I’m Happy Just To Dance With You, I Call Your Name
- 1964: Filming: A Hard Day’s Night
- 1962: The Beatles live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (evening)
- 1961: The Beatles live: St John’s Hall, Bootle
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.