Beatles Seen, Not Heard
By Janet Cudaback and Cathy Reat
The Napa Valley Register
September 1, 1965
The Beatles wound up their third
American tour last night at San Francisco's Cow Palace, amid the cheers of
17,000 of their noisiest fans. Their 35-minute performance was the second of
two Beatles shows at the Cow Palace yesterday.
The show was opened by four string-haired
discotheque dancers leaping and bounding across the stage. Immediately
following the dancers, the spotlight turned to the King Curtis Band, audible
only to people in the seats close to the stage. Next to appear were three
rather agile young singers, Cannibal and the Headhunters, clad in maroon
jackets and mustard colored shirts. As Cannibal and the group concluded their
act and skirted off the stage, singer Brenda Holloway appeared wearing
something that closely resembled a white nightgown. After belting out a few of
her so-called hits, an intermission followed, and the show resumed after 10
minutes.
The audience was impatiently
awaiting the Beatles, but instead were entertained by another of Beatle manager
Brian Epstein's British groups, Sounds Inc. After doing several instrumental
numbers (including, strangely enough, the William Tell Overture), they
departed, and several disc jockeys arrived to establish a halfway calm
atmosphere. Of course, their efforts were to no avail.
The Beatles ran onto the stage at 9:15,
bringing uncontrollable hysteria to most of the audience. Dressed in beige
jackets and black pants, The Beatles opened with “Twist and Shout”, which must
have been rather disappointing to anyone who had any intentions of hearing them.
Despite previous warnings, girls continued to
scream and make noise even during Paul McCartney's attempt to introduce the
third song. The situation roughly got out of hand, and the show had to be
stopped as Paul pleaded with the audience to behave and to stop throwing things
at him.
From this point until the end of
the show, the lights were left on so policemen could usher out about 30 over-anxious
girls who almost succeeded in knocking down John and Paul. The Beatles remained
calm and quiet as several girls were fainting at their feet. One boy managed to
avoid the police and stand next to Ringo, patting him on the shoulder.
The 11th and concluding number was “I'm
Down”, sung by Paul. With The Beatles being rushed off the stage and out of
sight within seconds.
It has been rumored that the
Beatles will not return to America for any more personal appearances. If last night's
reception was any indication, the Beatles will always be welcome in San
Francisco.
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