Newcastle upon Tyne • 8:45pm show

BEATLES ’65: IT’S ORGANISED MANIA – Newcastle

Watching the Beatles onstage is always an exciting experience. Saturday in Newcastle was no exception.

The Marionettes had just finished their spot and compere Jerry Stevens was whipping the capacity crowd into near-frenzy with impersonations of the fab four. Behind the scenes Paul was peeping from the wings, George adjusting his guitar. Out front the noise was deafening. Nearly 2,000 pairs of lungs were close to bursting point. THEN ON THEY CAME!

Paul grinning widely, John with a jaunty step, giving mini salutes to the audience as he marched across to his place. George went straight to plug in his guitar and Ringo ambled to his drums.

As the screaming increased so did the barrage of missiles — wrapping paper, Gonks, autograph books. And as fast as girls leaped up to wave and shout, attendants restrained them.

A few practice chords and the Beatles crashed straight into “I Feel Fine,” each weaving about, avoiding the cascading gifts. Paul stamps his foot to the beat and acknowledges the cries. Grinning and nodding to the circle seats as he breaks into “She’s A Woman.”

More missiles. A red jelly baby bounces off John’s head. George laughs. From the balcony girls hang huge larger-than-life photos of the four.

George’s turn. His song: “If I Needed Someone” from the boys’ new LP. He too grins broadly, checks his guitar and bursts into song.

The front half-dozen rows are a solid mass of waving arms, scarves and sleeves. One little girl shakes a huge blue Gonk by one leg.

The song over George switches guitars and a mike is moved closer to Ringo. More hysterical screaming and they realise he’s to sing! It’s “Act Naturally,” of course! John and George step back a bit to give the audience a better view of the drummer. He’s grinning happily now. Paul joins him on the chorus.

Then John tries to make himself heard. “Here’s a number from our new LP … and all that!” he says, brushing his hair from his eyes. It’s “Nowhere Man.” John leads. Paul and George together. A small girl faints and is carried out.

More missiles. Another sweet scores a direct hit. This time it’s on George. He ducks instinctively, looks a little concerned and glances quickly at the others.

Next it’s “Baby In Black.” John and Paul duet, swinging their guitars in time to the music.

Now it’s George’s turn to speak. He also has difficulty making himself heard above the racket. A loud guitar chord blasts out—it’s the film title “Help!”

Later says Paul: “At this point we’d like to sing you one side of our new single, featuring John on the organ.” And straight into “We Can Work It Out.”

From the wings the Moody Blues watch the act. On to “Yesterday” and the noise drops as Paul takes over the organ. The fans go mad. Then there’s comparative quiet as he starts the ballad.

The end is near. They swing into “Day Tripper” and then Paul announces the last song and asks everyone to join in with him on “I’m Down.”

BEATLE FEVER! THEY’VE DONE IT AGAIN.

Tighter security – fans don’t get chance to go mad

Backstage the Beatles were watching “The Avengers” on a giant-screen television. Like Emma Peel, they were dressed from top-to-toe in black. Paul and Ringo sunk deep in a sofa; Ringo his feet balanced precariously on one of those pedestal ash trays (which he eventually managed to send crashing to the floor).

John sat upright in a wicker chair, one leg crossed on the other, his chin cupped in his hand. In the other corner George shared a second settee with Moody Blue Ray Thomas.

“Come in and watch the telly,” called Paul.

“Have you seen the show?” was George’s first question. I explained that getting into the theatre was like trying to rob Fort Knox. “Oh well, have a ciggie then?” he grinned, pulling up a chair for me. “I’m not really interested in this,” nodding at the TV.

As Steed and Mrs. Peel found themselves caught up in another dice with death on the small screen, George talked about the boys’ 10-day trek.

“Yes, we do still get butterflies before a first night. You always find yourself wound up a bit before the curtain goes up. But it soon goes. First house at Glasgow last night was a bit dodgy. My amps went dead after the first three numbers.”

George took a long pull on his ciggie: “It takes a while to get the feel of things on a tour again. The lighting, the mikes, you know! One thing we’ve noticed is that although the noise from the kids is the same, the difference is that they don’t get a chance to express themselves like they used to. There are too many attendants about. It’s more organised mania this time. They don’t get a chance to go mad.”

THE BEATLES, GEORGE SAID, WERE GOOD FOR MANY MORE TOURS YET.

“It’s only on things like America that we get a bit bored,” he went on. “I suppose we could go on an ever-lasting tour here and still not please everyone. We’re always getting letters asking when we’re going to be at this place or that. It’s a shame. We do the best we can in the time available.”

WHAT DO THEY DO AFTER THE SHOWS ARE OVER EACH EVENING?

“Nothing,” said the Beatle simply. “Just go back to the hotel and play records and eat. If we went out any place we’d spend all our time signing autographs. Travelling’s hard this time. Through all the snow. Makes the journeys much longer.”

ABOUT HAVING THE MOODY BLUES ON THE BILL WITH THEM, GEORGE EXPLAINED:

“We’ve always been good friends. We seem to get on well with them. I don’t think we specifically asked for them, but I know we all agreed when the name was mentioned. They go down well with the kids. Their style’s different to ours, but they follow the same trends.”

On the subject of their double-sided single and complaints that they weren’t doing enough plugs to satisfy fans, George pointed out that they were, in fact, doing the same amount as they did for “Help!”

“This is the crucial record, I think,” he added. “It’s difficult having two A-sides. I prefer ‘We Can Work It Out’ — but obviously ‘Day Tripper’ has words which are more easily remembered.”

And on the Beatles’ career generally George concluded by saying: “We’ve enjoyed making records and writing and playing songs 100 per cent more this year than we did last. And we feel it’ll go on like this.”

From Disc Weekly – December 11, 1965

THE BEATLES’ FANS WERE SO GENTEEL

Fifty policemen stood outside the City Hall, Newcastle, last night. Inside the hall, two dozen ushers waited for girls to make a rush for the stage, and St. John Ambulance men waited to carry off unconscious girls.

But it never happened — the 2,500 fans who packed into the hall to see the first Beatles’ concert in Newcastle for two years screamed themselves hoarse. But the expected chaos didn’t come. The concert-goers dutifully showed their tickets to policemen, thus gaining entry to Northumberland Road; the queues filed quietly into the hall.

Excitement and impatience grew during the supporting acts, and here and there choruses of “We want the Beatles” hit the air. There were screams every time the door opened. The stage seemed set for pandemonium, but only the screaming brought back memories of the old “Beatlemania.”

The Beatles sang for 30 minutes, often losing out to the bigger noise in the auditorium. But the ushers and ambulance men just looked bored. One earned his pay by telling a girl who was hanging precariously over the gallery rail to sit down; another by telling a girl not to hang banners over the rail. But otherwise it was the most orderly big concert at the hall for several months — a Sunday School party compared to the last Rolling Stones’ concert.

Mr. Tony Barrow, publicity officer, said afterwards: “It’s obvious. The fans are starting to listen to the songs instead of just wanting to grab the boys. The screaming? That’s just spontaneous.”

But a policeman, shivering on a futile guard duty, had another opinion on it: “The big hysteria’s over, man,” he said. “The Beatles are popular, but it’s not as mad as it used to be.”

From Sunday Sun – December 5, 1965