No Full House Yet For The Beatles

No Full House Yet For The Beatles

Associated Press

Liverpool Echo

June 28, 1965

The Rome newspapers today showed mixed reactions to the Beatles' concert there

last night. Il Messaggero said they sang well and had good rhythm. It went on, “No

more than four ugly faces, four long heads of hair, four sublime idiots, four barefoot

bums, but they succeeded in creating a spectacle that one can only admire.” Il Tempo said, “The real show was by the fans, and for this reason, it was not a good show.”

Some Italian newspapers said the Beatles' visit had the elements of a triumph, even without

the capacity audiences the organizers had predicted. Paese Sera, a pro-Communist Rome

Daily, noted that the Adriano Cinema was not air-conditioned. It said, “whoever succeeds

in half filling a cinema in mid-afternoon with a temperature at 37 (98 degrees Fahrenheit)

can well be satisfied.”

The Beatles are coming to the end of their Italian tour with something of a record for them.

They have not played a full house yet, making their Italian debut in Milan last week in the

22,000 seat Vigorelli Velodrome, they attracted 7000 fans. The second performance was

better, with 20,000. Two general performances failed to fill the 25,000-seat Lido Sports

Palace. There at one show, the audience barely reached 5000, including 1000 police on

hand to keep order. They proved unnecessary

In Rome yesterday, at two performances at the Adriano Cinema, there were empty seats in

the 2000-seat theater. The organizers had claimed that all the seats had been sold. The

Adriano Cinema advertised that seats were available for the two final performances today.

 From here, the Beatles go on to Spain. Rome newspapers suggest the high prices were

one of the reasons for the lack of spectators. Seats for the Rome performances ranged

from 11s 60d to £ 4. The cheapest and most expensive seats were selling best, the

cheapest to teenagers, the expensive ones to such Beatles fans as actor Marcello

Mastroianni and actress Ursula Andress, who attended last night's show. The heat wave

may have kept the crowds down.