When Beatlemania hit Portsmouth
The curtain swung back. For a fraction of a second there was silence. Then “A-H-HH-H-H!” ‘It did not stop for 30 earshattering minutes.
‘Nothing could stop the screaming.’
This quote comes from a report in The News on December 4, 1963, detailing The Beatles’ appearance at Portsmouth Guildhall the night before.
The year marked the start of the swinging sixties and Beatlemania, a phenomenon that was to change the course of music, art and fashion and was also the year when The Fab Four would play at the Guildhall – twice.
‘Yeah, Yeah, Yeah – The Beatles at The Savoy and Portsmouth Guildhall 1963’ gives a fascinating insight into the rock sensation’s visits to the city from a variety of perspectives including those who were there and press reports of the time accompanied by images and articles, many of which have been reproduced with the permission of The News.
The new, free to visit exhibition, which opens on Tuesday, May 2, captures those heady times. There is also an accompanying souvenir brochure for fans to buy.
When The Beatles first visited the Guildhall on March 30, 1963 they had been billed at the bottom of a package tour starring America’s Chris Montez and Tommy Roe, but by the time they reached the venue with what was the 20th and penultimate date of the tour, their fame had eclipsed that of the headliners and they played songs including Please, Please Me, Love Me Do and I Saw Her Standing There. Their second Guildhall performance, due to take place on November 12 the same year, was postponed after Paul McCartney collapsed in his dressing room with gastric flu just hours before the show.
With security measures ‘fit for an atom base’ in place to combat near-riot warnings, police cars toured the city with loud-hailers to announce that the show was off.
The News had even published a four-page supplement to coincide with the November date. Cuttings from the time show the confusion as the concert’s status changed between editions.
The rescheduled show took place just three weeks later on December 3, 1963, where it is widely reported the concert could not be heard above the screaming fans. The band had apparently been going to take a holiday, but altered their schedules so that they wouldn’t let their Portsmouth fans down. Fans slept outside the venue the night before in their sleeping bags in a bid to get close to their idols. Even the Lord and Lady Mayor were reported to have been in the back of the stalls for the show.
Mass hysteria, a black market of tickets amongst school children, ‘strongarmed men’ to stop a rush on stage, how The Beatles were smuggled into the city in a van, burst water hoses, disappointment over fish and chips and much more – you
‘Nothing could stop the screaming’
can find out about it all.
Curator of the exhibition and brochure, Nigel Grundy, had joined the throng of fans outside the venue who didn’t have a ticket but wanted to get a glimpse of the fab four.
Nigel says: ‘I didn’t get a ticket because my pocket money didn’t stretch that far. Waiting outside, rumour after rumour spread through the crowd – “they were at a window”, “they had been seen in Commercial Road,” and so on.
‘Security tried to confuse fans about which exit The Beatles would leave from by leaving vehicles at each but as luck would have it, I happened to be standing at the east door when a car dew up and seconds later The Beatles rushed out passing within inches of me – I didn’t see The Beatles play, but I almost touched one!’
The new exhibition is part of The Portsmouth Music Experience at Portsmouth Guildhall which is free to visit Monday–Friday, 10am4pm (subject to availability, please check before travelling) with a limited number of souvenir brochures of the exhibition also available to purchase.
Situated on the first floor of Portsmouth Guildhall, The PME, currently celebrating its 10th anniversary, showcases the rich history of music and venues the city has enjoyed since the 1960s.
Along with The Beatles exhibition you will find the most comprehensive exhibition ever staged of the 1968, 1969 and 1970 Isle of Wight Music Festivals, a display about the filming of The Who’s rock opera, Tommy and a new photographic exhibition for 2023, Icons of Rock – Portrait and Performance, which features the photographs of Barrie Wentzell, chief photographer for Melody Maker from 1965–1975.
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah is currently scheduled to be at the PME for six months.
For more information go to portsmouthguildhall. org.uk.
’The Beatles rushed out passing within inches of me’