Thursday, August 19, 1965
Houston • 3.30 show
Concert • By The Beatles • Part of the 1965 US tour
Last updated on April 20, 2019
Thursday, August 19, 1965
Concert • By The Beatles • Part of the 1965 US tour
Last updated on April 20, 2019
Location: Sam Houston Coliseum
Concert Aug 18, 1965 • USA • Atlanta
Interview Aug 18, 1965 • Atlanta 1965 press conference
Concert Aug 19, 1965 • USA • Houston • 3.30 show
Concert Aug 19, 1965 • USA • Houston • 8pm show
From HoustonPress, August 17, 2012:
On August 19, 1965, the Fab Four played their only Houston concerts — one in the afternoon and one in the evening — at the Sam Houston Coliseum downtown.
The completely hysterical response to the Beatles during this period of the band’s career, particularly by teen girls, was already notorious by the time John, Paul, George and Ringo made their way to Houston, but by most accounts, the city’s adult population was still mostly unprepared for the mayhem. It began the second the Beatles’ chartered plane touched down at Houston International Airport (now Hobby), when fans swarmed the tarmac.
Some Beatlemaniacs even managed to climb onto the plane’s wings, knocking on windows and likely scaring the ever-loving shit out of the lads. It was this kind of unprecedented behavior that would soon lead John Lennon to declare that the Beatles had become “more popular than Jesus.”
Naturally, the chaos at the airport was only the beginning. A couple of girls who tried to sneak into their hotel, the Sheraton-Lincoln, wearing maids’ uniforms were given the boot. Dozens more were already lining up in the early morning hours of Thursday for the first of the two general-admission performances, scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
The event was sponsored by KILT and emceed by local DJ Russ “The Weird Beard” Knight, who quickly discovered that the more than 10,000 screaming kids who filed into the Coliseum for the early show were completely beyond his control.
The Sam Houston Coliseum, which stood on the site of the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts before being demolished in 1998, hosted its fair share of rowdy crowds. It was the longtime home of Paul Boesch’s Houston Wrestling, and a 1956 performance there by Elvis Presley had been cut short when young fans rushed the stage.
Also on the bill were Cannibal and the Headhunters, Brenda Holloway, the King Curtis Band and Sounds, Incorporated. These support acts could have given the greatest performances in music history that day, but for some reason, nobody seems to remember. Probably because the instant the Beatles appeared onstage at 3:30, the crowd of mostly young girls lost their collective shit. […]
How well could the audience hear the band over the screaming? Tough to say, since we weren’t there, but probably not very. The evening show, attended by more couples and (slightly) older rock fans, was apparently a tad more subdued than the kiddie matinee, but this was Beatlemania at its zenith.
What mattered was the experience of seeing the Beatles, those ultimate teen idols made flesh. The Houston shows were remembered by many as a couple of the most bonkers live performances of the band’s career. […]
When they did play, the music was often completely drowned out by the screaming of thousands of girls. Back then, few venues had sound systems powerful enough to compensate.
Luckily, KILT recorded and broadcast both Houston concerts, which have since been widely bootlegged. […]
See alsothe Houston press conference.
This was the 1st concert played at Sam Houston Coliseum.
A total of 2 concerts have been played there • 1965 • Aug 19 (3.30 show)• Aug 19 (8pm show)
Written by Phil Medley, Bert Russell
Album Available on The Ultimate Live Collection Vol. 15
Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
Written by Carl Perkins
Album Available on The Ultimate Live Collection Vol. 15
Album Available on The Ultimate Live Collection Vol. 15
Album Available on The Ultimate Live Collection Vol. 15
Album Available on The Ultimate Live Collection Vol. 15
Album Available on The Ultimate Live Collection Vol. 15
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Connie • 1 year ago
I was there with my 11 year old brother. Stood inline all morning and when the doors opened we ran to the open seating. We ended up on about the 9th row, on floor, center left. The screaming was constant but we were close enough to hear music in the background . It’s a wild memory!!
The PaulMcCartney Project • 1 year ago
WOW, what great memories ! Thanks for sharing with us!
WRAYB • 2 days ago
Aged 14 me was at the afternoon show. I went with a friend a few years older who had a car. We arrived a few hours early and there was already several hundred people in line. The sidewalk approaching the entrance had a roof, supported by poles about every 25 feet or so. As the crowd outside grew, to minimize pushing or trying to skip the line, I guess, the police tied rope between the poles, breaking us into blocks about 10' by 25'. The distances are my hazy estimate, but that is my best guess.
When we got in, we decide to go for the loge seating on the right side of the state. Turned out to be a great choice since nearly all those in front of us went to seating on the floor. We had a clear view of the stage and despite the screaming, could her the band and enjoyed the whole show.
I found a copy online of the recording and found it very interesting to listen and compare to my memory. In person the audience screaming was nearly non-stop, but we could hear OK from our position. I wish a recording of the whole concert with all the opening acts and some of the DJ MC patter would surface.
One particular strong memory of the performance was that on Ticket to Ride that their voices cracked when singing one of the lines, "my baby don't care". Paul and John cracked up laughing and stopped playing for a moment. On the next time the line came, to their amusement, their voices also cracked doing the high notes. From the recording it passes so quickly that there doesn't seem to be a break, just their blown-out voices but I remember John and Paul laughing so hard it disrupted their performance briefly. The moments passed so quickly. On the third time for the line, John obviously sings the line much lower.
The PaulMcCartney Project • 2 days ago
Thanks WRAYB - What amazing memories, thanks for sharing with us !!
