Live in Southport !

The Kingsway    Corner of Kingsway and the Promenade

22nd January 1962

The Beatles first appearance in Southport. This was the first of three consecutive bookings. A step up in class from the earlier "jive hives" The Beatles were used to playing, with dressing rooms, curtains, carpets and a “real” stage. Brian Epstein took this opportunity to publicise the event with newspaper adverts and slightly exaggerated catch-lines like “Come and meet Pete, Paul, John and George - The group everyone has be asking for - Now they’re here at The Kingsway” and “Come and hear them play their latest record - It’s sensational!”.

29th January 1962

The second of a block booking of three consecutive shows. The venue was licensed to sell alcohol so The Beatles and other beat groups had to play in the upstairs ballroom, which didn’t have a bar, in order that under-18s could attend.

5th February 1962

On the face of it, this seemingly insignificant or "business as usual" concert, turned out to be a major landmark in Beatles history ...

Pete Best was unwell and unable to appear with The Beatles at either of their scheduled concerts. When faced with the dilemma of who they could get to stand in, their unanimous choice was none other than Ringo Starr!!! As luck would have it (well, luck as far as Ringo was concerned), Rory Storm and The Hurricanes had no bookings this day, so Ringo stood in for Pete Best at both the afternoon concert at The Cavern Club in Mathew Street, Liverpool, and then performed at The Kingsway in Southport in the evening.

So Ringo Starr (unofficially) became a Beatle for the first time in Southport, well, in the UK at least, as he had filled in for Pete Best in Hamburg on a number of occasions!!! Last of the three block bookings at this venue. Supported this time by The Quiet Ones.

26th February 1962

NO DETAILS

5th March 1962

The Beatles played a lunchtime booking at The Cavern, Liverpool before travelling up the coast to play The Kingsway.

12th March 1962

First of two unadvertised Monday night concerts at The Kingsway.

19th March 1962

Second of two unadvertised Monday night concerts at The Kingsway.

23rd July 1962

The concert flyer produced for this show (see Memorabilia section) promotes The Beatles as ...

"Back by public demand - Parlophone Recording Artists”

and

“First Appearance in Southport since their German Tour”

... quite an impressive promotion !!!

Support unknown.  Tickets 3/- (15p) !!!


The Marine Club   Coronation Walk

Rumours abound that The Beatles DID play here in 1962 (possibly earlier?), likewise that they DID play the Klik Klik Club in Stanley Street around the same time, both of which are both confirmed and denied, depending on who you speak to!

There's a great flyer that mentions The Beatles at The Marine Club (although not appearing in person) but advertises a “Great Shake Contest” where you could win “Twist & Shout” EPs (which were released on 12th July) which probably took place on Saturday 17th/24th August, as the Gene Vincent concert being promoted below is confirmed as 27th August 1963. The impressive support listed for the Gene Vincent show being: The Outlaws, Group One, Rhythm & Blues Inc., The Motifs and The Torledo Four.


Cambridge Hall  Lord Street

26th July 1962

Joe Brown topped the bill for this show on the strength of his current chart success with “Picture of You”, with The Beatles billed second, on a two colour promotional flyer (see Memorabilia section) as “The North’s Greatest Sound...The Sensational Beatles”.

Also on the bill were Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Big Three, Pete McLaine & The Dakotas and The Four Jays.


The Palace Hotel   Westcliffe Road / Weld Road, Birkdale *    t.b.c.

Autumn 1962 ???

Rumours abound about a show at this venue but pin-pointing a date is proving difficult.

On a personal note ... I queued up to be an extra in the Norman Wisdom film "What's Good For The Goose" which was being filmed in and around Southport in 1969. The "extras" were required for a hippy happening disco scene in the "invented" night club "The Screaming Apple" downstairs in the Palace Hotel. However, me being VERY "straight" - short back and sides haircut, suit, tie, didn't smoke, didn't drink (only 17) - I didn't qualify ... needed to be "hip" and "look" hippy-like. Oh well, it was fun trying!

For those of you unfamiliar with the film "What's Good For The Goose" ... if you're a Norman Wisdom fan, give it a miss, it's NOT the Norman Wisdom we all knew and loved so dearly. His acting is not in question - never has been - but it's simply not HIM. However, if you want to watch a nice slice of the Swinging 60s - with the occasional laugh - and want to see Southport as it was back then, then it's well worth seeing. There was a live set performed by The Pretty Things at "The Screaming Apple" too !

* Not 100% sure of the exact address of The Palace Hotel but it WAS on the corner of Wescliffe Road and Weld Road. However, as most people already know, the hotel was built back-to-front ... The "front" should have been facing the sea and the Birkdale Palace railway station, which would have been Palace Road, the "back" would then have been on Westcliffe Road. But something went drastically wrong with the construction and it ended up with the "front" facing onto Westcliffe Road and NOT towards the sea! This major error by the architect, William Mangnall, was said to have caused him to commit suicide, throwing himself off the roof of the hotel, and his "ghost" was said to haunt the lifts in the hotel for many years after his passing. Good story but whether it's true or not ... you decide!

Club Django / Queens Hotel   Promenade

6th December 1962

Primarily a Jazz Club, but the management obviously had their finger on the pulse, and didn’t miss the opportunity to book The Beatles for this show. No further details available.


Odeon Cinema   Lord Street

1st March 1963

The Beatles’ first appearance at The Odeon Cinema was when they were second on the bill to Helen Shapiro, however, the roles were reversed later on as The Beatles’ popularity grew and grew and “Beatlemania” swept the country.

The cinema at that time was run by Ken Lloyd, an extremely popular manager (I knew him well) and a very shrewd businessman, who not only had the foresight to book The Beatles for this show but also went on to book them for an entire week in August the same year. He also booked a host of other big names to appear live.

The show was performed twice with performances at 6.25pm and 8.40pm.

The complete line-up was: Helen Shapiro, The Beatles, The Kestrels, Danny Williams, The Honeys, The Red Price Band, Kenny Lynch and the compere was Dave Allen.

The advert in the local press stated that “Seats available for 6.25 performance only” and that the 8.40pm show was “Fully Booked”. Prices for the show were 8/6, 6/6 and 4/6 - which will mean absolutely nothing to anyone that doesn’t remember the £SD system. Roughly 42.5p, 32.5p and 22.5p. So for the princely sum of less than 50p you got the whole show! What a bargain!!!

26th-31st August 1963

The Fab Four (as they started to become known as) appeared  at The Odeon again, this time for a six-night, twice-nightly booking, and “Beatlemania” had REALLY arrived. I should know, I was there when it happened ... it’s a long story, quite funny, with a sad ending too, so if you have the time, have a read of “MY FUNNY/SAD STORY” and see how I got on!

The show was performed twice (as previously) with performances at 6.25pm and 8.40pm.

The complete line-up this time was: The Beatles, Gerry and The Pacemakers, The Fourmost, Tommy Quickly, Sons of The Piltdown Men, Gary and Lee, Tommy Wallis and Beryl (Exciting Vibes Duo!) and the Compere was either Bob Bain or Billy Baxter.

The reason I’m not sure as to who the Compere was is because I have an autograph book from the time and BOTH of them have signed it !!!  Most odd !!!

Despite The Beatles’ increased nationwide popularity AND the other big name acts also appearing on the bill, the ticket prices remained the same, although the two newspaper adverts differ on the 6/6 and 6/- seats.

Alas this wonderful cinema, along with countless other "listed buildings" in Southport, is no more ... it was knocked down to make way for a new Sainsbury's store ... criminal !!!

Many thanks to Spencer Leigh for providing the following run down of the entire show, along with personal comments he made at the time, which I thought would be nice to include as they almost mirrored my own views of the Fab Four's music at the time when this show was on:

FIRST HALF
Gary and Lee - I'll Never Get Over You
Gary and Lee - Twistin' To The Locomotion *
Tommy Quickly - Heaven Only Knows
Tommy Quickly - Everyday
Tommy Quickly - Tip Of My Tongue
Tommy Wallis and Beryl - xylophones on roller-skates
Gerry and the Pacemakers - Some Other Guy
Gerry and the Pacemakers - Away From You
Gerry and the Pacemakers - Sweet Little Sixteen
Gerry and the Pacemakers - How Do You Do It *
Gerry and the Pacemakers - A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues
Gerry and the Pacemakers - Pretend *
Gerry and the Pacemakers - You'll Never Walk Alone
Gerry and the Pacemakers - I Like It *
 
SECOND HALF
Fourmost - Just In Case
Fourmost - Everybody Loves A Lover
Fourmost - Hello Little Girl
Fourmost - September In The Rain (with impersonations)
Beatles - Roll Over Beethoven (George)
Beatles - Thank You Girl (John and Paul)
Beatles - Chains (George)
Beatles - A Taste Of Honey (Paul)
Beatles - She Loves You (John and Paul)
Beatles - Baby It's You (John)
Beatles - From Me To You (John and Paul)
Beatles - Boys (Ringo)
Beatles - I Saw Her Standing There (Paul)
Beatles - Twist And Shout (John) *

An extremely detailed account as I'm sure you'll agree. In fact, until I started researching for this website, I'd never heard of Gary & Lee and, to be perfectly honest, I still don't know anything about them ... but I'm going to find out!  Thanks again Spencer!!!

Don't think I'll spend too long checking up on Tommy Wallis and Beryl and their "vibes" !!!

The Little Theatre   Hoghton Street

27th August 1963

As has been well documented throughout the various Beatles sources, this is “technically” NOT a true concert, as there was no paying audience. However, The Beatles DID play live here. See news article in the Memorabilia section.

A documentary being made by Don Haworth for the BBC, initially called “The Beatles” but which ended up being called “The Mersey Sound”, was being filmed in and around various Merseyside/Lancashire locations - Southport included.

Due to the incredible screams/hysteria generated by the audience at the previous night’s Odeon concert, it was virtually impossible to actually HEAR The Beatles. So they “borrowed” The Little Theatre and filmed The Beatles performing “Twist & Shout” and “She Loves You”, dressed in their grey collarless suits. Then later they filmed The Beatles performing “Love Me Do”, this time against a curtain background, and wearing their black collarless suits, in order to create the impression of a different venue.

The footage from The Little Theatre was then put together with the Odeon Cinema footage and the end result, together with other location footage, was broadcast as “The Mersey Sound” and the “Love Me Do” footage (with studio recording overdubbed) became the promo film.


The Floral Hall   Promenade

20th February 1962

The Beatles played The Floral Hall on four separate occasions. The first was a “Rock ‘n’ Trad Spectacular” featuring a host of top line acts. However, surprisingly The Beatles were NOT top of the bill. That honour went to a local band called The Teenbeats. They opened AND closed the show!!! Imagine having to FOLLOW The Beatles!!! Will hopefully find out more about this...

The full line up was: The Teenbeats, The Beatles, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Rory Storm & The Hurricanes (still with Ringo on drums), Billy J. Kramer & The Coasters and, providing the meagre Jazz element of the evening, The Chris Hamilton Jazzmen.

This was a HUGE step up on the ladder of success for Brian Epstein and The Beatles as they’d been used to playing much smaller venues. This was a “proper” theatre with a huge stage, dressing rooms, tiered seating, the works  ... the start of something big!!!

A special section on The Teenbeats, featuring some stunning photos, will have a separate section (if all goes according to plan) ... still waiting to get confirmation on copyright permission.

20th November 1962

Another big “theatre” appearance at The Floral Hall. Two performances.

Further details unavailable.

23rd April 1963

Another big “theatre” appearance at The Floral Hall.

No details available.

15th October 1963

The Beatles final appearance at The Floral Hall and their final visit to Southport. Advertised as “Star” Tuesday Beat Nights.

Having witnessed the arrival of “Beatlemania” first-hand a couple of months earlier at The Odeon Cinema, this was a bit of a coup to have them in town again, considering The Beatles’ popularity at the time.

The support acts for this evening were: Bruce Harris & The Cavaliers and Vic & The Spidermen.

The band were scheduled to play “to midnight” according to the newspaper advert. Ticket prices had risen since the Odeon show - “7/6 in advance or 8/6 on the door (if any tickets left)”.

Further “Star” Tuesday Beat Nights followed The Beatles appearance here, including: The Searchers, Sounds Incorporated, Freddie and the Dreamers, The Hollies and The Big Three. A host of other big name acts were to follow in their footsteps at what was at the time THE place to be seen/heard live!

When I started researching for this website I was staggered by just who HAD appeared at The Floral Hall (and other Southport venues) in the 60s ... Pink Floyd, The Who, The Rolling Stones, to name but a few ... I've started a list but information is hard to come by!!!


Glenpark Club   Lord Street

5th November 1961    UNCONFIRMED !!!

Apparently this club was situated below what was The Great Wall of China restaurant (where T Ball shoe shop is/was) on Lord Street. The entrance being to the side of the building down a long passageway, which is currently an absolute disgrace ... I've taken a photograph of what I think(!) could possibly be the entrance, although this has yet to be confirmed. The picture tells it's own story!!!

I recall the Great Wall restaurant being there in the early 60s and remember them advertising Bingo nights on an "A" board outside. But was totally oblivious to there being (or having been) a night club downstairs. Details of The Beatles appearance(s) at this venue are incredibly sketchy. However, the club itself is described by many people, artistes and customers alike, as THE place to be at the time.

I've only ever seen ONE actual date given for The Beatles show here and that's for the evening of 5th November 1961. Whether this is right or not has still to be confirmed, however it DOES fit the bill.

There's a couple of "stories" that (1) I heard about many years ago and (2) that could be the same occasion . . . The story I heard many years ago was that The Beatles had been drinking before the show and were showing the effects during their first half performance. Then during the break they drank some more and, by the time they were due back on stage for the second half, they were well and truly sozzled. This resulted in "the management" removing them from the premises before they could finish the show.

The second "story" could possibly be the same night . . . your guess is as good as mine . . . but on one particular night, the story goes, "the group" (not sure if this was The Beatles or another act) were on stage at the time when the police raided the place, closed the show down, arrested several people and closed the club completely. This was because there were several young ladies in there drinking under age, one in particular was only 16 and happened to be the police superintendent's daughter!!! Oooops!!!

As I said, whether these two occasions are the same thing or totally different occasions, I just don't know ... maybe you do??? Tell me more!!! If anyone has any more information on this show AND any other information on other acts that played here it would be greatly appreciated.


The ATC Hut/Building   Upper Aughton Road / Mosley Road, Birkdale

NO DATE AVAILABLE ... PRE 1962     t.b.c.

Apparently The Beatles played here in exchange for Coca Cola and Bacon/Jam on Toast!!! How true this is I’ve no idea, but that’s the “local” story !!!

No further information available.


High Park Labour Club   Devonshire Road, High Park

NO DATE AVAILABLE ... PRE 1962    t.b.c.

This venue has had various guises in the past. It started out as The Liberal Association HQ, then it became The Tivoli Picture Palace, then The Queen’s Cinema and then, at the time of The Beatles appearance, was the High Park Labour Club. It is now the Post Office Telecommunications Social Club.