These memories didn't stay in Vegas

The Beatles two concerts in Las Vegas on August 20, 1964 were well photographed and documented.   What happened in Las Vegas that summer night did not stay in Vegas and we thankfully know a lot about what occurred.   Here are some memories of fans that I collected from all around the world wide web.

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.