The Beatles’ first Swedish concert took place in a hall in a secondary school, Sundsta Läroverk, in the small town of Karlstad.
All four Beatles arrived in the same car, although six vehicles and a trailer travelled on the 300km journey through the snow from Stockholm. In the evening they arrived at the Statshotellet in Karlstad, where John Lennon and Paul McCartney shared a double room that night, and George Harrison and Ringo Starr did the same.
Although the hall at Sundsta Läroverk could accommodate 750 people, only 600 saw each of the shows. The support acts were local groups Svend Miller’s Popstars and The Phantoms.
Ticket prices ranged from 12-20 SKr, making them unaffordable for many. The Beatles’ fee throughout the tour was £140 a night.
They performed two 25-minute shows at Nya Aulan in Sundsta school, at 7pm and 9pm. Their likely set for these concerts, and for all other dates on the Sweden tour, contained nine songs:
- ‘Roll Over Beethoven’
- ‘Please Please Me’
- ‘I Saw Her Standing There’
- ‘From Me To You’
- ‘A Taste Of Honey’
- ‘Boys’
- ‘She Loves You’
- ‘Twist And Shout’
- ‘Long Tall Sally’
Also on this day...
- 2019: Album release: What’s My Name by Ringo Starr
- 2016: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Aichi Geijutsu Bunka Senta, Nagoya
- 2015: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: State Theatre, New Brunswick
- 2014: Paul McCartney live: Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville
- 2009: Rare Capitol Records staff-only pressing of Sgt Pepper discovered
- 2007: Paul McCartney live: Electric Proms
- 2002: Paul McCartney live: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim
- 1974: UK single release: Junior’s Farm by Paul McCartney and Wings
- 1968: George Harrison produces Is This What You Want? by Jackie Lomax
- 1968: John Lennon and Yoko Ono announce pregnancy
- 1968: Mixing, editing: Yellow Submarine film score
- 1967: Recording, mixing, editing: The Fool On The Hill, Hello, Goodbye
- 1965: Mixing: Drive My Car, In My Life, If I Needed Someone, Day Tripper, Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), Nowhere Man
- 1964: The Beatles live: Hippodrome, Brighton
- 1962: Radio: Here We Go
- 1961: The Beatles live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (evening)
- 1960: The Beatles live: Kaiserkeller, Hamburg
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
During tour of Sweden.my friend Barbara Dubrovsky interviwed The Beatles for her school magazine ( having been staying with me in Bognor Regis Englandin 63)
She had no problems getting to meet them ae photos s they were NOT well known in Sweden at the time !
I have the photos of Barbara taken at that time
To be followed the same with Gerry and The Pacemakers.
When were Gerry and the Pacemakers in Karlstad?
Regarding the list of songs performed: I doubt that Long tall Sally ever was an opener. Reviews from Karlstad mention I saw her standing there. Göteborg has “Roll the Beat-O”, I assume that was Roll over Beethoven, which had replaced Some other guy as the regular opener since the summer. There exists a set list from the gig in Eskilstuna, starting with ‘Beethoven’. I am quite sure they would have kept the same numbers throughout the tour. Chains was only mentioned for the Eskilstuna gig –but not on this list, only in a review. It could have been a switch, but it may well be a mishearing of the word ‘taste’ when it was introduced as that was the regular song for that spot. Long tall Sally was most likely the regular encore, just as it was on the Drop-In TV show. So, with all probability, the Swedish tour 9-song se tlist was:
1 Roll over Beethoven
2 Please please me
3 I saw her standing there
4 From me to you
5 A taste of honey
6 Boys
7 She loves you
8 Twist and shout
9 Long tall Sally
Thanks for taking the time to do this. It’s really useful. Can I see the Eskilstuna setlist anywhere?
Try this link; I just uploaded it there on page 160 under the “Groovy Beatles pictures” section.
https://www.rickresource.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=381139&p=831214#p831214
Thanks! I added it to my Eskilstuna article – I hope that’s OK.
According to my friend, ringo starr followed his friends older sister to her place. She was eighteen during that time. The street they were shown in was dammgatan. That was a happening in small Karlstad. A star and a Elf met.