The Beatles performed at this London night club and restaurant on just this one occasion, following their first appearance at the New Musical Express Poll-Winners’ All-Star Concert in Wembley.
Although the Pigalle later became a fashionable destination for London clubbers, on this occasion the audience almost entirely consisted of Jewish people, as the concert had only been advertised – for reasons unknown – in the weekly Jewish Chronicle newspaper.
Last updated: 25 January 2024
Also on this day...
- 2015: Paul McCartney live: Kyocera Dome, Osaka
- 2015: John Lennon vinyl box set announced
- 2012: Paul McCartney live: Estádio do Arruda, Recife
- 2010: Paul McCartney’s entire back catalogue to be reissued by Concord Music Group
- 2003: Paul McCartney live: Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London
- 2002: Paul McCartney live: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale
- 1990: Paul McCartney live: Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro
- 1978: UK album release: Bad Boy by Ringo Starr
- 1967: Recording, mixing: Only A Northern Song, Sgt Pepper run-out groove
- 1966: Recording: Taxman
- 1965: Filming: Help!
- 1964: Filming: Paul McCartney’s unused scene in A Hard Day’s Night
- 1963: The Beatles live: NME Poll-Winners’ All-Star Concert
- 1962: The Beatles live: Star-Club, Hamburg
- 1961: The Beatles live: Top Ten Club, Hamburg
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
21/04/63 Pigalle Club, Picadilly
The reason the gig was only advertised in the Jewish Chronicle was because it was a charity “do” with all proceeds going to a (Jewish, I think) charity.
Check Jewish Chronicle archives for 19/04/63 for more information.
i remember it well i was there ,my one and only beatles concert but i love them still
I’ve yet to come across anyone from N.W. London who WASN’T there! Perhaps we should have a reunion.
be a bit hard for me steph ,i now live in the hills of north wales ,i can get to greece quicker than i can to london
I was there and I lived in South London. So was my future husband, who was from Ilford, although we didn’t meet until 1967. I stood outside the Pigalle and shook hands with them all as they left. Stupidly I didn’t get their autographs. A great night!!
I went there with a girl called Sue Wood from Abbey wood
My name is David Leigh, from Whitechapel originally.
I was there with my best mate Barry Milner
we caught up in a crush with loads of birds and dolly’s huge bundle later on
Smashing time those were the day’s
Was that Barry Milner from Whitechapel?
I was there too.
My dad Michael Sheridan known as Micky was also there that night and was friends with Barry! He would love to get back in touch with him and anyone else from those days!
I was there with my girlfriend nobody really took much notice of them we just danced the night
away.Could have got thier autographs but who new!
I know Barry Milner i was at his Hair Salon a little while back he is my wifes cousin in law.
My dad Michael Sheridan known as Micky was also there that night and was friends with Barry! He would love to get back in touch with him and anyone else from those days!
Hi Martin,
My dad is Michael Sheridan, known as Micky back then and he was also a friend of Barry’s! I’m trying to get him back in touch with people from this days!
Yeah I was there too with my mate at the time Alan from Ilford…we went next door the Pigalle before the dance to Fortes Milk Bar and noticed a couple of guys with hair brushed forward and stage make up on their faces I think that having read Beatles history it was Paul Mcartney and Ringo Starr.The Beatles gave a good show and stopped the crowd from dancing to just stand and listen…..I remember that they closed the stage curtains before introducing The Beatles and while this was happening John Lennon poked his head around the curtain for a peek…….I think the reason the band performed this gig is the fact that Brian Epstein being jewish and knowing the London Jewish Scene at the time may have been offered to air the band to a discerning jewish audience……..Tony from Southgate
I was there that night. Does anyone remember John Leyton on the bill? I got his autograph on my hand. Such an exciting evening, lovely times to be young, we were lucky.
I was there as member of NME advertised support group Dave Anthony and the Druids from Ilford, although Tony Rivers and The Castaways opened. We played The Pigalle regularly in 1963 , opened for Screaming Lord Sutch (Paul Nicholas on piano and probably Ritchie Blackmore lead) and Gerry and The Pacemakers. Barry Clayman, the agent, switched Tony Rivers to go on in our place at the last moment (gutted) and we watched from the wings. Paul was with Jane Asher I recall. Brian Epstein signed TR and The Castaways to Nems immediately afterwards.
We were the opening act on that gig. We were a three-piece covers band called The Southern Gentlemen and we had a weekend residency at a pub called The Grave Maurice, in the East India Dock Road. We were setting up on the Saturday night – 20th April 1963 – when our drummer arrived and asked whether we wanted to play with The Beatles on the following night. “Please please me” had been number one and “From me to you” was climbing the charts. We packed up our gear that night and told the landlord that we were leaving. He didn’t seem too disappointed! Our drummer, Jim Scaife, was ambitious and a real go-getter. He was a jazzer and just marking time with our little rockabilly outfit, but he was in touch with the scene and various agents, so somehow he got us this gig. We were rubbish, The Beatles were not. I was nineteen at the time, 76 now, but it remains in my mind as the greatest rock and roll show I’ve ever seen. We weren’t just not on the same planet as these guys, we weren’t in the same universe. So tight, such power and such charisma. We stood in the wings and watched their set. Jane Asher was there, among others. Ringo had mislaid his snare drum, left behind somewhere after the NME awards show, I think, and he borrowed our drummer’s, a Ludwig. No light shows, no dry ice, no click tracks or computer programmes, just absolute self-confidence and command of their material. Magic. Deservedly legends.
That was lovely to read. Many thanks for sharing your memories, David.
Thank you, too, Joe. This is the stuff that makes your site such a delight.
Hi David,
May I use a few of your lines about the Beatles at the Pigalle in my next book, A Thousand Years of Piccadilly (the follow-up to A Thousand Years of Denmark Street) as there will be a page or so on the Pigalle.
Thanks
Mike Read
Hi Dave
Jim Scaife here. Great to read your post on the Beatles gig 1963.
I certainly remember the gig ,especially the bit about not getting paid!. I rang the agent the following day and had a big “shout-up” with him. He claiming that The Pigalle was supposed to pay us, which was rubbish. ( The Musicians Union wasn’t interested at all).
I remember that there was four of us in our band i.e. you, me, Will Wilmot (RIP), and a bass player who I remember was quite a good player. There was also Tony Rivers and The Castaways ( Tony died in 2018 ). Anyway, before the show, the bass player and myself went round the corner for a pint and there was Ringo and George having a drink, so we sat with them. They were very affable, not big time, and we chatted about the music scene and music in general.
So, as you say, we watched the Beatles from the wings, and they were great, totally unique. Ringo borrowed my snare drum and played great. No tracks, no light shows or computers. Magic, deservedly legends.
Please keep in touch, I would like to know how you are doing !
Regards Jim
Tony Rivers, alive and living in yorkshire with his son Anthony, will be very surprised to hear of his demise. What rubbish.
This evening my 51 year old son Adam asked me if I had seen the Sky documentary about the Beatles ‘8 days a week’ and had we seen them live? I told him about the night at the Pigalle which I went to with my girlfriend Susan Miller (we married in 1967) for an unforgettable evening. I Google the Beatles at the Pigalle to check the date and was absolutely thrilled to found this website with so many memories. Fantastic!
It was a charity dance raising money for the Jewish Blind Society! The opening band was Tony Rivers & The Castaways.