Cardiff • 8pm show

Man on stage grapples with Beatles

A MAN dashed on stage and grappled with Beatles Paul and George during their show at the Capitol Theatre, Cardiff, last night. The man, wearing a pink sweater, appeared from the wings about 10 minutes before the end of their spot in the second performance. He was quickly ushered off stage by a white-shirted attendant.

Paul said as he ran to the group’s getaway car — a limousine with the windows blacked out: “I can’t understand it.”

Said George: “This is an occupational hazard. It delayed us only for a few seconds.”

The group then sped off to London with a white police car escorting them.

Mr. M. Evans, the Beatles’ road manager, said: “A man ran on stage while John was announcing the group’s next number — Day Tripper; and grappled with the lads.” He was asked to leave and disappeared as quickly as he came. “This sort of thing has happened before and we are able to handle it.”

The show was weak apart from the Beatles’ 30-minute appearance. They sang 11 numbers, several from their new L.P. Rubber Soul. Their rendering of Yesterday was the best yet — apart from Marianne Faithfull’s version. They also sang the A side of their new single We Can Work It Out.

The 2,500-strong audience screamed, shouted and stood on their seats during the whole time the Beatles were on stage.

Numerous women attendants tried to quieten the fans and the 50 “bouncers” had numerous small scuffles with over-excited fans. More than 40 policemen, including 24 police cadets, were also on duty in and around the theatre.

At one time the queue waiting to get into the Capitol was so long it stretched along Queen Street and into Churchill Way for several hundred yards.

● All I Want For Christmas Is A Beatle should be top of the pop parade again this year — particularly among South Wales teenagers after last night’s successful show at the Capitol Theatre, Cardiff by the Liverpool lads. The Beatles, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, placed a doll on top of a Christmas tree at the theatre before their performance.

Unknown publication – From 12 December 1965 – Final UK Tour, Capitol Cinema, Cardiff – Beatles and Solo Photos Forum

No rest for the Beatles

The quiet of a wet Welsh Sunday was shattered last night when the Beatles wound up their most successful British tour yet at the Capitol Cinema, Cardiff.

Normally deserted streets were crowded with thousands of teenagers, many carrying larger-than-life photographs of their idols.

Extra police on duty lined the pavement alongside a 400-yard queue of fans who had been standing in the rain hours before the show began. Crash barriers were erected to stop them spilling on to the road. But traffic came to a halt as the 2,000 fans leaving the first performance mingled with an equal number waiting for the second show.

And, as the curtain went up for the second time, the whole cinema erupted into screams of anticipation. Eighty bouncers and police inside took up their positions while the four Liverpool lads sat calmly in the dressing room — eating sausages and mash.

Two white-coated waiters hurriedly cleared up the plates and the Beatles settled down to watch a Western on a television set specially installed in the dressing room.

“They’ll put him away for that, the thug,” called out Ringo as another Indian bit the dust.

“Gets right carried away, does that one. Don’t you, Ringo?” said Paul.

“No,” came the dour reply.

Then the conversation switched to their latest record. “It’s made number one today according to the papers,” said George.

“Yes,” added John. “It’s always a relief to hear that. Every time we release a record it can be hell wondering if it will go to the top or not. There are always those who will be only too ready to laugh if it does not. The best way to stay successful is not to take it for granted, you can’t afford to let up for a moment. If you do you are finished.”

He picked up a bunch of grapes from a nearby bowl of fruit.

“Takes away the taste of sausages,” he said, brushing back his hair which was still wet with perspiration from the first act.

Yet underneath this air of relaxation tension was beginning to build up as the time for the second spot approached.

“No matter how many times we have done it,” said John, “just before the curtain goes up we all become a bag of nerves. Until you hear the crowd react approvingly it’s hell. Nerves are something even experience can’t wipe out.”

Yet he need not have worried. This, the Beatles’ last live show in Britain for probably a year, must have been the best performance South Wales pop fans have seen. They just could not go wrong. After the first chord it must have been clear, even to the eldest listener present why this foursome have become the world’s greatest name in pop entertainment. Their approach, still zealously fresh, proved that they have resisted the temptation to rest on their laurels.

From South Wales Argus – December 13, 1965