Just months
after completing their first feature film, A
Hard Day's Night, The Beatles toured Australia for the first and only
time, in June 1964. Just like the film, Beatlemania was
at its height, giving all concerned little time for rest
- a blur of planes, cars, hotel rooms, interviews,
crowds, screams and concerts.
2.53am The Beatles' BOAC Boeing 707 from Hong Kong touches down in Darwin. A contingent of 400 fans greet the plane, which has been diverted from its original flight plan after a scheduled stopover in Manila was ruled out by the Phillipine airport authorities because of extreme heat. From the brief stop in Darwin, The Beatles plane flew on to Sydney's Kingsford-Smith International Airport at Mascot.
7.43am John, Paul,
George and Jimmy Nicol arrive in Sydney. They are
welcomed by around 1,000 fans, 100 journalists, at least
one sociology lecturer there to observe teenage
behavioural patterns - and a torrential rainstorm. This
was particularly felt by The Beatles, who were soaked to the skin, as they were
obliged to parade before the packed airport viewing
terraces on the back of an open-top truck. The two
commercial television networks covered every detail live,
and most fans would be familiar with the famous footage
of The
Beatles clinging to
their TAA umbrellas and to the side of the truck
in the face of the downpour and strong winds.
The Beatles did not play any concerts in Sydney at this stage, and the entourage flew on to Adelaide during the morning of the 12th.
11.57am The Beatles touch down in Adelaide. The city turns on the biggest welcome the band will ever receive - an estimated 350,000 people crowd the 15 kilometres from the airport to the Southern Australia Hotel. The madness never lets up! 6.00pm It was at
Centennial Hall, that the group gave their first four
shows in Australia - over two nights. They played: 8.00pm The Beatles give their second Australian concert at Centennial Hall. "Hysterical screaming fans stormed the stage in a near riot as the late Beatles show drew to a close last night", The Advertiser in Adelaide reports the following morning. "The closing incidents marred what was otherwise an orderly evening of screaming, shouting, stamping and singing." In exchange for a healthy fee, NEMS permitted one of the two shows to be recorded for radio transmission. The broadcast, titled The Beatles Show and sponsored by the manufacturers of Surf washing powder, was transmitted the following Monday evening, 15 June. The Beatles concert at Centennial Hall, probably taken from the June 15 broadcast, has been bootlegged a number of times and can be found on A Doll's House; 300,000 Beatles Fans Can't Be Wrong (LP and CD) and Australia 1964 (CD). The songs were the same as the June 15 Melbourne show except 'You Can't Do That' was replaced by 'Twist and Shout'.
6.00pm The Beatles give a concert at Centennial Hall 8.00pm The Beatles give their last Adelaide concert at Centennial Hall.
1.00pm The Beatles leave Adelaide on a chartered flight for Melbourne for a three night concert stint, two shows each. Chaotic scenes outside the Southern Cross Hotel in Swanston Street precede even more chaotic scenes inside, where the band is reunited with Ringo, who has flown in with Brian Epstein that morning. Jimmy Nicol goes to his room to pack.
8.00am Brian accompanies Jimmy to the airport, gives him a cheque for £500 and a gold watch, and sends him home to obscurity. "The boys were very kind but I felt like an intruder", Nicol says later. 6.00pm The Beatles perfrom at Festival Hall. 8.00pm The Beatles perform at Festival Hall
12.30pm The Beatles appear on the portico of Melbourne Town Hall, whipping a crowd of 20,000 into a frenzy. John and Paul cannot resist giving their Nazi-style salutes to the gathered masses. All four are forced to endure the 'cream' of Melbourne society, and a healthy contingent of unknowns, at a moyoral reception. 6.00pm The Beatles give a concert at Festival Hall. 8.00pm The Beatles give a concert at Festival Hall Melbourne interviews with The Beatles are on Live in Melbourne Australia 7/16/64.
3.00pm George spends the afternoon driving an MG around the countryside. The other three stay in their suite where a hairdresser spends two hours trimming their hair - failing to collect the cuttings for souvenirs! 6.00pm The Beatles perform at Festival Hall. 8.00pm The Beatles perform again at Festival Hall. Television cameras were given permission to tape the sixth and last concert here, turning the footage into an hour-long programme, The Beatles Sing For Shell (Shell, the petroleum company, being the sponsors of the broadcast). The programme aired 7.30-8.30pm on Wednesday 1 July. During the six shows, The Beatles performed : (1) I Saw Her Standing There, (2) I Want To Hold Your Hand, (3) You Can't Do That, (4) All My Loving, (5) She Loves You, (6) Till There Was You, (7) Roll Over Beethoven, (8) Can't Buy Me Love, (9) This Boy, and (10) Long Tall Sally. All 10 songs from the June 16 show, as aired on the TV special The Beatles Sing For Shell, are on the bootleg release Live in Melbourne 1964 and Paris 1965 (CD). The concert performances have been repackaged in a variety of forms and to varying degrees. Nine songs are on Australia 1964 (CD), which adds number 1, 4 and 8 from the June 17 show and mistakenly lists them as the June 18 Sydney show. Songs from June 17 are on Eight Arms To Hold You (2 songs) and Great To Have You With Us (3 songs, mistakenly listed as Sydney shows). The complete concerts are also on, All The Best From Australia - The Complete Festival Hall, Melbourne Sets I & II.
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