The Beatles live: Festival Hall, Brisbane, Australia

The Beatles’ first night of shows at Brisbane’s Festival Hall took place on 29 June 1964. They gave two performances, and a further two on the following night.

The group had arrived in the city just after midnight, and were greeted at the airport by 8,000 fans. They were paraded in an open-top truck, but were pelted with food and bits of wood by some Beatles haters in the crowd.

The Beatles were quickly taken to their hotel – aptly named Lennons – where they declared there would be “no more unscheduled appearances. For as long as we’re in Brisbane, it’s the hotel and hall for us”.

Here’s the group’s press officer Derek Taylor receiving a set of hand-decorated boomerangs from a Brisbane fan, Jack Burwell:

Embed from Getty Images

The two concerts at the Festival Hall were each seen by 5,500 people, and all tickets sold out well in advance. Once again they were subjected to eggs thrown at the stage, although The Beatles played on and the miscreants were swiftly ejected from the venue.

Festival Hall was closed in August 2003. The venue was demolished and an apartment block, Festival Towers, was built in its place.