The Beatles’ first performances of 1964 were a continuation of The Beatles’ Christmas Show, the variety night which ran from 24 December 1963 until 11 January 1964.
The shows took place at the Astoria Cinema in London’s Finsbury Park. The Beatles normally did two performances on each night, to cope with popular demand for tickets. This was the seventh date of the residency, which lasted until 11 January 1964.
The first act on stage was the Barron Knights and Duke D’Mond. Next came short sets from Tommy Quickly and The Fourmost, and Billy J Kramer and The Dakotas closed the first half. Following the interval there was a return from the Barron Knights and Duke D’Mond, then Cilla Black, and Rolf Harris. The Beatles were the final act of each show, with a performance lasting just 25 minutes.
The group performed nine songs: ‘Roll Over Beethoven’, ‘All My Loving’, ‘This Boy’, ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’, ‘She Loves You’, ‘Till There Was You’, ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’, ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’ and ‘Twist And Shout’.
Also on this day...
- 1965: Live: Another Beatles Christmas Show
- 1963: Travel: Hamburg to London
- 1962: The Beatles audition for Decca Records
- 1959: The Quarrymen live: Wilson Hall, Liverpool
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
Like 1963, 1964 turned out to be a very good and eventful year for The Beatles.
They made their first visit to America for a few concerts and to perform on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ to well over 20 million Americans watching the performance on their TV sets, including a then-unknown American musician named Billy Joel.
The British Invasion began and dominated the American singles and charts.
They had their first #1 45 in America with ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’.
They toured not just the UK, but also America, Canada, Hong Kong, The Netherlands, Denmark, France, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand.
Paul bought his father Jim, who was about to retire from the workforce, a lovely house in Cheshire called Rembrandt.
George turned 21 years old and met Pattie Boyd.
John and George bought houses in Surrey – John bought Kenwood in Weybridge and George bought Kinfauns in nearby Esher.
The band made their first movie “A Hard Day’s Night”, released two albums (“A Hard Day’s Night” and “Beatles for Sale”), three singles and four EP’s, including “Long Tall Sally”.
Ringo got his driver’s license and underwent a tonsillectomy out in December.