Monday, July 4, 2016

The 4pm concert in Manila

The Beatles made it to the Rizal Stadium by 4pm for the first of two performances on July 4, 1966.    35,000 fans were waiting outside, including Danee Samonte who recalled in 2011,
 I was there but outside the stadium grounds because I couldn’t afford the P20 entrance to the concert. I contented myself with the faint inaudible sound of The Beatles drowned by hysterical screams of the fans.


As many as 50,000 fans were inside the stadium that  afternoon and of course they had to make it through the opening acts and there were seven of them!    Reports show that the Beatles also weren't interested in these acts, as they turned off the sound on the backstage speakers.   One of the groups, The Reycards, was a comedy act and Paul asked someone why the audience was laughing.  He was told that they did comedy and song like music hall entertainment and Paul was not too impressed.

Finally the Beatles came out and performed in the heat for 30 minutes for fans that were excited to see them appear.
















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