The Beatles live: Tower Ballroom, New Brighton, Wallasey

This was The Beatles’ second show at the Tower Ballroom in New Brighton, Wallasey. Earlier in the evening the group had played at the Casbah Coffee Club in Liverpool’s Haymans Green, which was owned by drummer Pete Best’s mother Mona.

This was also “Operation Big Beat II”, an event which featured a range of top beat groups performing. The Operation Big Beat nights were promoted by Sam Leach, for whom The Beatles played a number of events in the early 1960s.

Tower Ballroom was on the New Brighton promenade, and was capable of holding up to 5,000 people. This event featured a surprise appearance from Emile Ford and Davy Jones, singers from Britain and the US respectively. Davy Jones joined The Beatles onstage for two songs, and Ford sang with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.

The New Brighton Tower opened in 1900, and at 567ft was taller than Blackpool Tower. A 1,000 tonne lattice-steel observation tower overlooking the Wirral Peninsula, it was the tallest building in Britain when it was completed.

It was short-lived, however. Following closure during World War One, its structure began to decay and the tower was dismantled between 1919 and 1921.

The ballroom underneath fared better, however, and was used for nearly 50 years. However, the building was destroyed by fire in 1969. The area was later redeveloped as River View Park.

The Beatles played at the Tower Ballroom on 27 occasions. The other dates were 10 November; 1, 8, 15 and 26 December 1961; 12, 19 and 26 January; 15, 16 and 23 February; 2 March; 6 April; 21 and 29 June; 13, 21 and 27 July; 17 August; 14 and 21 September; 12 October; 23 November; 1 and 7 December 1962; and 14 June 1963.