I attended the afternoon performance. My dad was working at
the Stardust and got “comp” tickets. I believe they were just a couple of
dollars each. The Beatles sang through the PA system and played through their
amplifiers. You could not hear the music above the screaming. After all, this
was the concert scene in its infancy and things were kind of primitive.
One last thing. The entertainment director at the Sahara,
Stan Irwin, brought the Beatles to town. He said that he did not make any money
on the deal and did it for the kids in the community. Things in Las Vegas were
a lot different “all those years ago.” – Jim B.
My uncle, a Vegas hotel owner (and world class poker player)
got my family tickets to the evening show. It was exciting but also a bit of a
disappointment. The Beatles played for only about 1/2 hour and the little girls
(I was about the same age as most of them) screamed so loud it was hard to hear
the music. Still, I am happy to have witnessed a part of Beatles history. –Dan W.
I was fortunate to attend both shows almost 50 years ago.
Four of us went and we were 14 years old at the time. We traveled to Las Vegas
with our friend’s older sister who I believe was just 21 so we didn’t have a
lot of supervision. My other friend’s father was a reporter with the Arizona
Republic in Phoenix, Arizona and he got us comp tickets in the second row for
the first show. My uncle lived in Las Vegas and got us tickets for the 2nd show
in the balcony. We also stayed at the Sahara hotel and saw the Beatles get into
their limo to go somewhere. After reading this article it must have been the
sound check. We also saw them waving from the penthouse. Naturally we attempted
to get up to their floor in the elevator but got caught and ran. While both
shows were great, the first was amazing as we were at the right of the stage in
row 2. We were right behind an American actress of our time named Connie
Stevens and her husband actor James Stacey. As in other descriptions, their
equipment was just a PA system and pretty small amplifiers. We were definitely
Beatlemanics and I remember crying and screaming when we saw them. One other
recollection is the warm up group. It was the Righteous Brothers duo of Bill
Medley and Bobby Hatfield who were popular at the time. To this day I will
never know how I talked my parents into going but it was certainly a life
experience I will never forget. I still have a box of Beatles memorabilia and
know I have a few pictures taken at the show and am going to see if I still
have the ticket stubs. – Sue R.
I saw the concert on a whim. I lived in mid-Missouri at the
time and my best pal and I decided to take Route 66 out west and we wound up in
Las Vegas. Had no knowledge that the Beatle’s would be playing there at the
time, but we scored two great tickets on the floor about twenty rows back on
the aisle. I was playing in a cover band at the time and we covered many of the
Fab Four’s early tunes so the concert was a surreal experience for me. I wish I
would’ve had the foresight to save my ticket stub. Been a Beatle’s fan all of
my life as all of my children have.
–George C.
Oh my GOSH, Sara!!! This is so great!!! Thank you for archiving all of these accounts!! And the pictures are amazing, I'm telling you, this whole blog is one beautiful, never-ending Beatles book!!!!
ReplyDeleteWell done.......and also......great title! :D
The colour pic of Ringo at the top looks like the afternoon Cow Palace show, 31 August 1965
ReplyDeleteI think you are right. I am removing it and you will see the photo in a year.
Delete