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| photo by Tony Spania |
Memories of fans who attended the concert in Detroit, Michigan (collected through various places online)
I was at this concert and saw Paul McCartney again at
Comerica Park July 24, 2011. He mentioned that you could not hear songs for all
the screaming. So true. I was bummed because you could not hear at all. Girl
next to me fainted and missed entire concert. Did enjoy Jackie DeShannon but
don’t remember the other acts. I have never run into anyone who was at that
concert and everyone is always impressed that I saw them in 1964—Gayle
I also attended the 1964 concert. The event was so
influential in my life that it is etched in my mind forever. Interestingly, I
don’t remember any other bands performing at the concert. I remember that they
only played for about 20 minutes and were set up at one end of what was
normally the Olympia ice hockey surface. The screaming was constant and
deafening and as fate had it, I was seated to the band’s right and just
slightly behind them, but up in the second or third tier so I had a great view
and could actually hear them play and sing, (except when Ringo sang the song
“Boys”). Thoughtfully, they all turned around and acknowledged the fans seated
behind them after every song. Another image that has stuck with me is all the jelly beans
that fans threw at them during the performance. After the concert, two rows of
cops with arms interlocked surrounded the stage, barely stopping some and
dragging others off who had leapt over them to grab the jelly beans they
stepped on during the concert. An absolutely, unbelievably amazing Beatlemania
scene! Afterwards, on the way out, people were breathing so hard from 20
minutes of screaming, that the walls of the exit corridors were literally
dripping with exhaled moisture! –Mark C.
My sister was at that concert. She still has a couple of the
jelly beans that the Beatles stepped on and threw back at the crowd. I went
with my dad to pick her up from the concert. She was 17 at the time and came
out of Olympia with her girlfriends hoarse and drenched in sweat. –Bob P.
I was also there…up in the Press Box with the son of my
Dad’s boss and his fiancee’. I remember a girl fainting and all the screaming.
Though I had no idea what this word meant at the time, I can now describe it
all as “surreal”…like I was almost dreaming it. I was 8 and it’s one of the
best things I can ever say I’ve gotten to do in my life. –Barbara H.
I was there with two sisters and my mom. Yes, etched in my
memory, John or Paul were only heard as the girls calmed down to hear them
mention what song was next. One cord maybe, then couldn’t hear any of the songs
the Beatles played but the screaming, the jelly beans the Beatles had to dodge.
One girl kept jumping up and down screaming in front of us. My mother beat her
with her purse cause she was blocking her view. The energy, the pandemonium.
All worth to live a moment in the history of the Beatles. Heard they grossed
more in Detroit than any other city that tour. I now live in Singapore, and
yes, there is a bit of reverence, when you tell the world “you saw the Beatles
live.” -Mike Griffin
I was at the 1964 concert. My family lived in Ann Arbor. My
dad got tickets from one of the Red Wings hockey players he knew through his
job at Ford and he took me since I was only 12. This was a very special
occasion since I was one of six children at this time. We were seated up and to
the left of the stage and had a very good view. I was timid in the midst of all
the screaming. When I finally worked up enough courage to scream, the woman in
front of me turned and gave me a strange look. I stayed pretty quiet but was
elated. If I covered my ears, I could actually hear the songs through all the
noise. My dad wore airport ear gear! Funny! I was motivated to learn to play
the guitar and I was convinced I would someday marry Paul McCartney. My best
friend was going to marry John Lennon. What a childhood memory! I still have
the original program from this concert. –Robyn
I was there , I lived in Detroit at the time. I don’t
remember hearing much of anything because of the screaming and I think I was
doing quite a bit of it myself. But, it was great fun, and I will always have
that memory as I was only 12 at the time. The father of a friend of mine said
they would never last and bet her a 6 pack of colt 45 that they would be gone
in a year. Don’t know if she ever collected it or not! –Mary Lou S.
My Dad, a Probate Judge, scored 4 tickets in ’64. He was to
take my three older brothers; one who loved hockey didn’t care to go so I did.
At 10 years old I recall hearing only one bit of music through all the
screaming. I remember a girl behind me, the veins in her neck bulging as she
screamed. As Ringo walked off stage I think a woman leaned over a railing and
swung her purse to hit him over the head, likely so she could say her purse
touched a Beatle. Amazing night and, yes, people have that reverence when I
mention that I was there. –Dave S.
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