The Beatles live: Mersey Beat Showcase, Tower Ballroom, New Brighton, Wallasey

The last of 27 live shows by The Beatles at the Tower Ballroom in New Brighton, a seaside resort in the town of Wallasey, Merseyside, took place on 14 June 1963.

The venue was capable of holding up to 5,000 people, making it one of the largest venues played by The Beatles at this time. They had first played there in October 1961, at an ‘Operation Big Beat’ event which drew 3,000.

On this evening it was one of Brian Epstein’s Mersey Beat Showcase concerts, in which The Beatles headlined a bill made up of acts managed by Epstein’s NEMS Enterprises.

The ballroom, which was situated beneath the 567-foot New Brighton Tower, was destroyed by fire in 1969. The area has since been redeveloped as River View Park.

At 11.45 after the show, Paul McCartney was stopped by police for driving over the speed limit on Seabank Road in Wallasey, Merseyside. On 26 August 1963 he received a fine and a one-year driving ban.

The Beatles played at the Tower Ballroom on 27 occasions. The other dates were 10 and 24 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.