US Tour Timeline | The Beatles

The Beatles' North American Tour, 1964.

“IT WAS RECORD-SHATTERING, PRECEDENT-SETTING, groundbreaking, earth-shaking, and moneymaking. The Beatles’ 1964 tour of North America would turn the entertainment business on its ear and forever change the landscape of the concert touring industry.

Perhaps no musical act before or since will ever rival the Beatles on their incredible groundbreaking tour of 1964. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr not only would leave an indelible impression on their fans in the United States and Canada, but would leave the continent with fans hungering for more in 1965.”

Chuck Gunderson, from “Some Fun Tonight.”

Photographs by Curt Gunther, from "Mania Days", with special thanks to Genesis Publications.
Text and tour information with thanks to Chuck Gunderson.

Find out more at ManiaDaysBook.com

★ SAN FRANCISCO ★

COW PALACE

19th August 1964

17,000 fans. A sell out crowd.

The Beatles launched their first North American performance tour with a show at San Francisco's Cow Palace, on August 19, 1964. After the band were introduced, and before they could play, fans screamed for a solid 4 minutes and 45 seconds. Ed Diran, the Cow Palace manager, said the noise level was "comparable to all the jet planes at San Francisco Airport taking off simultaneously."

Q: "This is your second trip to San Francisco, are you going to see more of it this time than you did last?"
RINGO: "Well, I only saw the airport last time, so I've seen more already."

Q: "Ringo? You didn't look too happy when you got off the airplane."
RINGO: "If you'd been on it fifteen hours, how would you look?"
JOHN: "How would he look, Ringo?"
RINGO: "Look at him now!"

★ LAS VEGAS ★

CONVENTION HALL

20th August 1964

Two shows. 4pm and 9pm.

In the early 1960s, Vegas was a different kind of place to the one we think of today. With just a few casinos and residents, it was a minimalist scene, poles apart from what the band was used to. Las Vegas was the smallest city The Beatles played on their North American 1964 tour, followed by Jacksonville, Florida. They played there not because it was a big location for them, but because they wanted to see the city - though in practice (being the way these things usually turned out) all they saw of it was basically their hotel room, a press room, a stage, and the airport.

★ SEATTLE ★

SEATTLE CENTRE COLISUEM

21st August, 1964

One show - and the band fish from the room of their waterfront hotel!

No one caught any fish, unfortunately, but a young fan did fall out of an air vent onto the floor in their dressing room, after their press conference there. When Ringo asked if she was okay, she turned around and sprinted back to the Seattle Center Coliseum without saying a word.

Q: "Do you wish they'd be quiet and let you sing sometimes?"
JOHN: "Why? They've got the records."

★ VANCOUVER ★

EMPIRE STADIUM

August 22nd 1964

Arriving late due to problems at customs, the band eat chicken wings and hamburgers in their limousine, on their way to play Empire Stadium. At 9:23pm, The Beatles were introduced to an audience of 20, 621 people.

As soon as they played the opening chords of "Twist And Shout", 2000-3000 fans rushed the stage and chaos erupted. Another large group of fans who'd been unsuccessful in getting tickets tried to tear down a nearby gate. At the urging of police, a local deejay tried to stop the riot.
John, angry at the deejay's abrupt appearance on stage, swore at him to leave, screaming, "No one interrupts a Beatles performance!" When he was told the police and Brian Epstein had asked the deejay to help, John's temper was cooled. "Sorry mate," he said. "Go ahead."

Q: "We heard reports that, maybe, the plane was late and they wouldn't let them into Canada. Why?"
JOHN: "Because of the hair. Have to be deloused before you can get in." (laughter)

Q: "What is the best city you've ever played?"
JOHN: "I don't know."
RINGO: "It's impossible, you know."
PAUL: "Actually, one of the wildest audiences was, I think, Glasgow."
RINGO: "Glasgow, Scotland."

★ LOS ANGELES ★

HOLLYWOOD BOWL

23rd August 1964

Tickets sell out in under four hours, four and a half months before the show. The concert goes down as one of The Beatles' most famous. Two hundred ticked-off teens almost start a riot at Fred's Music Store in Rosemead when they find out tickets are all gone. Two clerks are bombarded with apples, bottles, and paper while the rest of the staff duck for cover.

Before playing this now legendary show, The Beatles spent the afternoon lounging by the pool of the mansion they'd rented, after waking up at 1pm (but arriving in the middle of the previous night, and sneaking in a 5am swim before bed). Home swimming pools were a novel luxury for the band.

Q: "A psychiatrist in Seattle is saying that you are a menace-- You bring out the destructive instincts in teenagers, and you oughta be banned."
GEORGE: "Psychiatrists are menaces, too." (laughter)

Q: "What happened to the suits they used to wear-- with no collars and the black trim, and all that?"
GEORGE: "They're in the wardrobe in mothballs."

★ DENVER ★

RED ROCKS AMPITHEATRE

26th August 1964

Allegedly, oxygen tanks are made available - the band might need to be revived whilst performing in the 'mile high' air of the city. They would play surrounded by towering three-hundred-foot rock formations dating back 700 million years.

Eight days before the concert, promoter Verne Byers received an anonymous, sinister postcard: the show must be cancelled, or a hand grenade would be thrown into the audience.
After a thorough investigation which even involved FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, the note was deemed an extortion attempt and the concert went ahead as planned.
They never found the author, and three weeks later the case was officially closed.

"We were told it was high above sea water, altitude... we got there, and we started finding it was a little hard to breathe, because we weren't used to it. I remember singing 'Long Tall Sally' and thinking, 'Hey this is great - hyperventilation of the highest order! Well, Long Tall Sally wheeze, wheeze ...' I was sweating but I got through it. It was an interesting experience, physically."
PAUL

Q: "George, I understand that from here you're going, later on next month, down south. I understand you're pretty against the segregation down there..."
PAUL: "Yeah." Q: "...and we understood there were some problems about the hotel you might stay in in Jacksonville."
GEORGE: "We don't know about our accommodations at all. We don't arrange that. But, you know, we don't appear anywhere where there is."

★ CINCINNATI ★

CINCINNATI GARDENS

27th August 1964

The band play in heat rising above 100 degrees. The Cincinati Post reports fans have abandoned items at the show venue including an adjustable wrench, a screwdriver, hacksaw blades and numerous handbags.

The Beatles performed in Cincinnati on the most backbreaking day of the tour's schedule. Having flown from Denver that morning, they held a press conference, played a show, and then took a late-night flight to New York City where they arrived at 3 a.m. for two more days of performances there.

Q: "How many more years do you think it will go on?"
PAUL: "Don't know. We're not..."
JOHN: "We're not taking bets."
Q: "Have you got any idea? Will it be three? Four? What do you think?"
GEORGE: "Till death do us part." (laughter)

★ NEW YORK CITY ★

FOREST HILLS STADIUM

28th - 29th August 1964

Rising at 2pm, the band have a breakfast of orange juice, cornflakes and soft-boiled eggs, whilst 100 NYPD officers (18 on horseback) and 12 security guards protect them at the hotel.

Q: George, you had an incident the other night with a photographer on the west coast. Do you find that the frenzy that surrounds your life makes your tempers wear thin?"
GEORGE: "No. I was in very high spirits that evening, and I just thought I'd baptize him."

Q: "The airport police were quite concerned about some oversized roughnecks who tried to infiltrate the crowd."
PAUL: "That was us!" (laughter)
Q: "They took a rifle away from one of the boys, it turned out later to be a dud, anyway. But I wonder what kind of insurance you fellas carry, and how difficult is it for you to get insurance when you go into these towns where you're obviously going to be mobbed?"
PAUL: (jokingly) "Which company do you represent?"

★ ATLANTIC CITY ★

CONVENTION HALL

30th August 1964

The band pass three days here, writing songs, playing Monopoly, and relaxing.

★ PHILADELPHIA ★

CONVENTION HALL

2nd September 1964

After their 8pm sold out performance, the band feel nervous boarding the flight taking them to their next venue. The famous psychic who correctly predicted Kennedy's assassination has said The Beatles' plane would crash en route from Philadelphia to Indianapolis.

★ INDIANAPOLIS ★

INDIANA FARMERS COLISEUM

3rd September 1964

With the band safely landed, thousands of fans congregate on the dirt race track at the Indiana State Fairgrounds - normally more known for its grading of cows and apple pie competitions - to see The Beatles play .

The Beatles played two performances - the 5pm show was held in the Coliseum, while the 9:30pm show took place at the racetrack due to a scheduling conflict in the Coliseum with the Flat Saddle Horse Show.

After the second concert was initially announced, a fervent request was made to the Indiana State Fair Board Commission to set up a meeting with the band between shows:

"I wrote to you last month, asking you if you could arrange for me to meet the Beatles because I had written a movie for them. It was just reported on the radio that they will be giving two shows. You know now how they get mobbed wherever they go, I'm sure you won't be letting them leave the Coliseum between shows. So wouldn't that be a perfect time to let me meet them - between shows? I don't have to talk to all of them. John is really the one I want to talk to since he is my favorite, and he is an author too. But I'd love to talk to Ringo. George will do fine too. If Paul is the only one who'll see me, I'll talk to him although he rates last with me."
Connie Dieren (Fan)

Q: "Out of all the compositions that you've written, which do you..."
JOHN: (anticipating the question) "We don't know."
PAUL: "Which is what?"
JOHN: "Which is your favorite."
Q: "Which is the best?"
JOHN: "'Land Of Hope And Glory' was one of my favorites."

Q: "Who decides who's going to sing the lead of a particular song you may do?"
JOHN: "It depends on a lot of things. If I write.... if we write 'em together, he sings higher than me so basically I normally sing lead and he sings harmony. If I can't make it he sings on-tone." (laughter)

★ MILWAUKEE ★

MILWAUKEE AUDITORIUM

4th September 1964

Exhausted from the frantic pace of their schedule, John sits out of the day's press conference, nursing a sore throat, and the band are all given antibiotics after the Milwaukee show.

★ CHICAGO ★

INTERNATIONAL AMPHITHEATRE

5th September 1964

During the band's performance, Paul is hit in the breast pocket by raw steak hurled at close range by a fan. Later he is hit in the face by a used flashbulb. Without missing a beat, he plays on.

Q: "What was your impression of the Chicago skyline?"
JOHN: "Oh, yeah. Good."
Q: "That's it?"
JOHN: "Well, it looks like any other, you know."
Q: "We thought it was rather distinctive."
JOHN: "Oh, well... each people... you know... Everybody likes their own hometown, don't they."

Q: "Do you want to go to the Soviet Union for a tour?"
GEORGE: "No, I don't."
Q: "Where would you like to go that you haven't gone yet?"
JOHN: "Home."

★ DETROIT ★

OLYMPIA STADIUM

6th September 1964

With The Beatles already departed after their two performances, it takes 200 Detroit police to clear the hotel of hiding fans. Almost everything the band has touched - linen, carpeting - is plundered and sold.

An offer of $50 for the doorknob to their suite was graciously turned down.

Q: "Does that noise out there go away with a little bit of cotton packed way deep in your ear so that the noise..."
JOHN & PAUL: "No."
JOHN: "We're used to it."
GEORGE: "We're immune to it."
Q: "It doesn't upset your musical balance?"
PAUL: "It sounds nice."

★ TORONTO ★

MAPLE LEAF GARDEN

7th September 1964

The Toronto Board of Education considers sending a truant officer down to the long line of fans queueing to buy tickets for the city's upcoming show...

...but decides against it. Instead, they advocate for principals of each of the local schools themselves to discipline all the young Beatlemaniacs playing hooky so they could get to the concert.
For much of their North American tour in '64, The Beatles had bad colds. On the Monday afternoon before their first Toronto show, a doctor was sent out to see them. After having a look at the band and giving them some medicine, he said, "They've got bad colds, but they're like race horses rarin' to go."

★ MONTREAL ★

MONTREAL FORUM

8th September 1964

The band play two sold out shows.

Q: "Paul, is John the boss of the Beatles? Do you agree with that?"
PAUL: "I don't know really. On some things he is. I'm trying to think if he is."
JOHN: "No, I'm not."
PAUL: "There's no real leader, anyway. It depends who shouts the loudest."

★ JACKSONVILLE ★

GATOR BOWL

11th September 1964

Whilst Hurricane Dora tears up the city, The Beatles play in 40mph winds to an integrated crowd. They had said they would not perform if the audience was segregated.

Before reaching Jacksonville, The Beatles had stayed in Key West whilst waiting for Hurricane Dora to pass.

"We stayed there for a couple of days, not knowing what to do except, like, drink. I remember drinking way too much, and having one of those talking-to-the-toilet bowl evenings. It was during that night, when we’d all stayed up way too late, and we got so pissed that we ended up crying – about, you know, how wonderful we were, and how much we loved each other, even though we’d never said anything. It was a good one: you never say anything like that. Especially if you’re a Northern Man." - Paul

JEAN: "Do you always eat on the run like this?"
RINGO: "No, we sit down like this." (laughter)
JEAN: "No, I mean, with all these people don't you get indigestion?"
RINGO: "Well, we usually eat in the room, but seeing the hotel's got no room for us, we have to eat here, you see."
JOHN: "That was unfortunate, that."
RINGO: "Unfortunate."

★ BOSTON ★

BOSTON GARDEN

12th September 1964

In their hurry to whisk The Beatles from the airport, limousines accidentally leave Ringo behind.

(the press applauds as the Beatles enter)
RINGO: "Glad you could all make it."
PAUL: (cowboy accent) "Hi everybody."
JOHN: (cowboy accent) "Howdy, cousin."
PAUL: (cowboy accent) "Like to thank all you country cousins here today for pickin' with us."
RINGO: "I see Fred made it."
PAUL: (cowboy accent) "And there's Mister Buck Owens in the audience." (Beatles laugh)
PAUL: (cowboy accent) "Would you like to do a song, Buck?"
JOHN: (cowboy accent) "If any of you is Johnny Horton, slap your leg!" (Beatles laugh)

Q: "Do the boys honestly believe that they will continue in this vein, making the wonderful money they are, and with all these performances, or will they fade like the miniature golf courses of a few years ago." (crowd and Beatles laugh)
JOHN: (giggles) "Yeah."
RINGO: (quietly) "You're just picking on my size."
PAUL: (giggles)
JOHN: "We probably will. But we'll get out before we fade."
PAUL: "We make more money than miniature golf courses, anyway."

★ BALTIMORE ★

BALTIMORE CIVIC CENTRE

13th September 1964

Two shows - playing to a total of 28000 fans - and one Beatle-hosted rooftop party lasting till 3:15am.

Q: "What about the gifts? I notice more and more you've been getting more and more gifts from fans. What was the most unusual gift you've ever received? I know there's so many-- Is there one that sticks out in your mind?"
JOHN: (laughs) "I once received a bra..."
Q: (laughs) "You did?"
JOHN: "...with 'I Love John' embroidered on it. I thought it was pretty original. I didn't keep it, mind you-- It didn't fit."