The Beatles live: Plaza, Handsworth

The Beatles played two shows on this date. This first show at the Plaza Ballroom in Handsworth, Birmingham was followed by another at the Plaza in Old Hill.

The venues, along with the Ritz in King’s Heath and the Brum Kavern in Birmingham, were run by Mary ‘Ma’ Regan and her husband. Ma Regan was a former schoolteacher who became something of a local celebrity in the 1960s after bringing a series of top musical acts to the area. She also managed a number of Birmingham groups.

The Plaza in Handsworth stood at 189 Rookery Road, and had previously been the Rookery Picture House cinema. It became a dance hall and live music venue before being converted to the Gurdwara Bebe Nanaki Ji temple in the 1980s.

On this date the venue hosted The Beatles, who were topping the charts with their debut album Please Please Me. The band performed a nine-song set: ‘Roll Over Beethoven’, ‘Thank You Girl’, ‘Chains’, ‘Please Please Me’, ‘A Taste Of Honey’, ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, Baby It’s You, ‘From Me To You’ and Twist and Shout.

The support acts were The Cheetahs and The Redcaps. Tickets cost 7/6d (37½ pence), sold on a first-come-first-served basis. Many disappointed fans were turned away from the venue.

The Beatles were late for their second show in Old Hill, for which they were supported by local group Denny and the Diplomats. The group’s drummer later recalled how they coped with the delay.

Firstly they were booked to appear at the Regans’ other Plaza in Handsworth. Unsurprisingly, they ran late and our scheduled half-hour spot became an hour or more. Usually we would perform several Beatle songs in our set, but obviously we had to drop those from our repertoire.

Truth was, we were running out of songs to play and reverted to a couple of ambitious instrumentals. We included Hava Nagila (which had Denny playing lead guitar behind his back ) and the Dave Brubeck Quartet classic jazz piece Take Five, which featured me playing a drum solo in 5/4 time.

We realised The Beatles had finally arrived and we could hear them talking backstage. Then we saw them all watching us from the side of the stage. We finished our set, the curtains closed, the crowd now in a state of nervous, near hysterical anticipation.

Last updated: 25 January 2024
Editing, mixing: She Loves You, I'll Get You
The Beatles live: Plaza, Old Hill
Also on this day...

Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.

Latest Comments

  1. Euan Rose Saturday 28 March 2015
    • Joe Monday 30 March 2015
      • Brian Friday 14 April 2017
  2. PHILIP SPILSBURY Sunday 12 March 2017
  3. Kez Friday 29 September 2017
  4. Ken Monday 12 April 2021
  5. Bob Blakemore Saturday 4 March 2023

Leave a Reply