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| I never realized that Little Orphan Annie was a Beatles fan |
August 19, 1965 — from a 15 year old who was there!
The
Beatles at the Sam Houston Coliseum, 3:30 & 8 p.m.
Tickets for the Beatles concerts were $5.00 each, general
admission and sold by mail only. My friend, Susan McNeeley, and I had our
tickets to both shows by March, 1965. I made a huge paper chain for my room,
each link denoting a day until Aug. 19. I recall that each night I would
gleefully tear up a link knowing I was one day closer to seeing the Beatles.
Since my family was completely unsupportive of my devotion
to the Fab Four, I spent the night of Aug. 18 at Susan’s house. Her older
sister was to take us to the Coliseum at 6am the following morning. Watching
the evening news on the 18th, we were horrified! Girls were already camped out
in front of the venue in hopes of securing the best seats. Susan and I went
crazy!
Her parents, however, were not willing to drive us two
15-year-old girls to downtown Houston — to spend the night — out in the open —
with no adult supervision. What was wrong with them? They compromised and
agreed to take us at 4 a.m. instead of 6. We knew the Beatles would be staying
at the Sheraton downtown, but we knew we’d never get in (months later, with
some subterfuge, we did manage to sneak a peek at the rooms and touch
everything in them).
That night, Susan and I listened to concert-sponsors KILT
radio as they gave the blow-by-blow of the Beatles landing at Hobby Airport.
Susan and I were just about out of our minds that we were missing this. We
actually got bikes out and started out pedaling to the airport, but ultimately
decided we would never make it in time(!).
We then came up with a brilliant plan. We sneaked through
the house and changed all of the clocks! So, we actually made it down to the
Coliseum at around 2 a.m.
There were already about 50 other girls there. As the sun
came up, more and more girls began arriving and by 10 a.m., it was pure bedlam.
Remember, the tickets were general admission. To add to the mix, it was August
in Houston, so people were fainting, etc. For a bunch of unsophisticated little
girls from the ‘burbs like we ALL were, it was quite an experience. I don’t
recall when the Coliseum opened the doors and let us in, but I do remember it
was early.
Once inside, the dash was on! We got center, a few rows
back. The crowd was nearly all little girls and a few beleaguered parents or
older siblings. Everywhere Susan and I saw classmates from Johnston Junior
High. The excitement was truly palpable.
At about 1 p.m., some guys from one of the other bands on
the bill, Sounds
Incorporated, walked all around the balcony area way up in back of the
stage. With their long hair and suits, the crowd went absolutely crazy! We
couldn’t really tell who was up there, but they looked like Brits to us.
Finally, at 3:30, the show began. I don’t remember the exact
order and I may leave someone out, but I think it was King Curtis Band, Brenda Holloway,
Cannibal
& the Headhunters (actually, pretty good), and Sounds Incorporated.
Not to take anything away from these performers, but I think for the audience
the word “endure” is more appropriate than “enjoy.” Finally, onstage came Russ
Knight, the Weird Beard, and with a few words from him — OUT THEY CAME!
They opened to the middle of Twist and Shout, and the audience literally
ignited. We all stood on our chairs, screamed, cried and generally showed our
approval with every shake of a Beatle head and every tap of a boot-clad foot.
After 35 minutes, it was all over.
Susan and I schlepped back outside and promptly got in line
for the 8 p.m. show. There were still lots of girls like us in line, but there
were also more college-aged and more couples for the later show. So, in we went
again. We got in the center again, but farther back. This time when the Beatles
came on, I was more collected, so I paid attention to the songs they sang,
John’s Mary Quant
hat, Ringo’s rings flashing, four sets of Cuban-heeled feet tapping, the
matching dark suits, John’s distinctive stance in front of the microphone,
George’s eyebrows, etc. The audience was lively, but nothing like my “sisters”
at the 3:30 show. Then, it was over.
Since we knew the Beatles were flying out of Houston that
night, we begged Susan’s sister to take us to Hobby Airport, which she did. We
went inside the terminal and watched the plane. We saw the Beatles being driven
on the tarmac to board the plane. Right before takeoff, some/all came up to the
cockpit and waved to all of us there watching. Then, away they flew.
Later, I read criticisms about Beatles’ concerts in general
— how you couldn’t hear them, the audiences were crazy, etc. People who
believed such things just didn’t get it. For those of us tuned in, it was an
EXPERIENCE. We heard them, we saw them and we EXPERIENCED them. I can’t speak
for fans of other bands of the day, but for us, the Beatles were a promise of a
new world coming. In the years following those concerts in 1965, they more than
delivered on that promise. And for millions like me, they never broke it. –Abigail Reeves
I indeed remember my first rock concert: The Beatles, Sam
Houston Coliseum in Houston, 8/19/65, the evening show. My aunt, who lived in Houston, bought tickets for me and her
daughter, my cool cousin Candy, who’s a couple years older than me. I was 14,
almost 15, and rode a Greyhound bus from San Antonio to Houston.
From what I remember, it was a package show with a bunch of
bands including Cannibal
& the Headhunters, King Curtis (I still
remember that as my introduction to the great Texas tenor sax sound) and Syndicate of Sound,
whose drummer did a great solo. I know there were other bands on the bill, but
some brain cells have left the building since ’65.
When the Beatles came on, my cousin Candy jumped up, started
waving her arms and knocked my glasses off. It took me five minutes to find my
specs. What I remember most about the Beatles set was the nonstop screaming. It wasn’t until years later that someone gave me a bootleg
cassette of the show. Then I actually heard the Beatles in concert at Sam
Houston Coliseum. –Jim
The Fabs were my first concert, 19 August 1965 at the Sam
Houston Coliseum. I was 12.
What to say — one of the most exciting events in my life,
the energy, the excitement, the music (what you could hear of it, which was not
much), just seeing them in the flesh. … I still recall it so clearly and am so
very grateful to have been there! –Sherri
My friends and I were the biggest Beatles fans we knew, so
if they were coming to Houston, we HAD to see them.
We sent in our $6.50 money orders, and the gods smiled on
our devotion and sent us general admission tickets to see our true loves. One
friend’s parents didn’t think we were old enough to go to such an event, so on
the day of days, just Bridget Johnson and I went. We just KNEW that we of all
the fans would somehow get to meet the Beatles, so we dressed in our
12-year-old finest — our Easter dresses. Yes, with little white socks and
patent leather shoes.
My dad dropped us off in front of the Sam Houston Coliseum
and instructed us to be there after the show. We promised but we knew we would
probably be running away to marry Paul and John. (We were 12, so John’s wife
and son didn’t seem to be such a big deal to Bridget). We found seats on the
front row of the balcony, facing the stage. Every time someone got near the
stage, the audience erupted in screams.
Looking back on it, the stage was very bare compared to all
the equipment bands have now. Just the instruments, mikes, and tiny little
amps.
The opening act was Cannibal and the Headhunters, whose hit
was Land
of a 1000 Dances. I have no idea what else they played, but we
suffered their presence and tried to conserve our energy for the REAL reason
for living.
Finally, Houston’s TV music personality Larry Kane
took the stage and after an endless introduction, he said the words everyone
had waited to hear, “The Beatles!” We went wild! We screamed, jumped, held each
other — just like the goofy girls in the old footage. We could barely hear the
songs, but we didn’t care because they were standing in front of US! At some
point, we tried to get hold of ourselves in case they noticed us, but we just
couldn’t do it. We stood and danced and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the
experience.
To this day, I love being able to say that the Beatles
concert was the first one I saw. Even though we didn’t really hear much, it was
a huge thing for a couple of little girls in their best dresses. –Deborah
My Mom drove me over to Houston from Kountze. It was
incredible, exciting, awesome. Did I faint? Maybe - I recall one
song and the next thing I can recall - they are singing another. Their 30
min. concert was off key, rushed and clearly they didn't want to be there.
No encore. Did this concert deserve to be the best in memory?
No but is it - Yes!! I will forever view the concert through the
eyes of an embattered teen who escaped daily trauma with the help of the
Fabs!!! –Cheryl
My brother Rudy and I attended concert, our seats were in
the second level right behind Ringo. We had a great view but it was so loud and
the girls just kept screaming and hanging and pushing on us. It was memorable.
– Rock
I got downtown at 6am.after riding a bus from Victoria.
There was already several hundred people standing around. Around noon the
police rounded us up and put us on a vacant lot across the street from the
Music Hall. Someone stepped off the curb like to make run for the doors and the
rush was on. I was about the 60th person thru the doors, I set on the 5th row
as there were policemen standing in front of the stage. Loved it but don't see
how anyone behind me could have heard them. Would do it all over again if I
could. –John
I was there with my GRANDMOTHER!!!!!!!!! I still remember
the sound of those screaming teenage girls! I've never heard anything like it
since! I can also see thousands of flashes from their cameras. Those girls
would all be in their 60's now! I remember they brought the Beatles into the
Coloseum in an armored car and pandemonium broke out. A stage hand took the
name of the opening band off of the kick drum to reveal the name"The
Beatles" and that's when the screaming began! –Gary
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