Beatley Moments | Page 319 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

Really deep Beatley moments for me today – the 60th anniversary of the concert in Dunedin, New Zealand that I attended, June 26, 1964.

Seems like Yesterday .

I have of course bought the recently published book “When We Was Fab” about their tour of Australia and New Zealand (not cheap, weighs a ton, but soooooo worth having for me!)

All the photos of the concert that have been published seem to be from the 6 pm one, whereas I attended the 8.30pm one on the same night. I was right up the front in front of policemen and John Lennon was a couple of feet away, so I should have found myself in a photo if it had been of  the right concert.

That tour was New Zealand’s first real entrance into the 1960s, I’d say, and to the Beatles themselves we seemed a bit behind the times, although we certainly had the screaming fans, the crush of people at the concerts and in front of the hotels they stayed at (I was there too and thought I’d die in that crowd)

The security was woefully inadequate because the cops just didn’t expect staid old NZ to react as we did, and insisted to the Beatles’ security people that they had experience of celebrity visits, so could manage it. John actually got some of his hair pulled out and sustained a cut on his leg as the cops thrust him through the door of one of the hotels. He was understandably not impressed!! The police themselves feared for their lives.

Still – I soaked in every minute of that concert, so much that it really does seem like yesterday – I can see their faces clearly in my mind, every gesture, every song, the sense of ecstasy! I was 15, the perfect age to be a Beatlemaniac!