No Rest for The Beatles
By Robert Peart
South Wales Argus
December 13, 1965
The quiet of a wet Welsh Sunday was shattered last night when the Beatles wound up their most successful British tour yet at the Capital Cinema, Cardiff.
Normally deserted, streets were crowded with 1000s of teenagers, many carrying larger than life photographs of their idols. Extra police on duty lined the pavement alongside a 400-yard queue of fans who had been standing in the rain hours before the show began.
Crash barriers were erected to stop them spilling onto the road, but traffic came to a halt as the 2,000 fans leaving the first performance mingled with an equal number waiting for the second show.
As the curtain went up for the second time, the whole cinema erupted into screams of anticipation. Eighty bouncers and police inside took up their position while the four Liverpool lads sat calmly in the dressing room, eating sausages and mash. Two white coat waiters hurriedly cleared up their plates, and the Beatles settled down to watch a Western on a television set specifically installed in their dressing room.
"They'll put him away for that-- the thug," called out Ringo as another Indian bit the dust. "Get right carried away, does that one? Don't you, Ringo?" said Paul. "No," came the dour reply.
Then the conversation switched to their latest record. "It's made number one today, according to the papers," said George. "Yes," added John. "It's always a relief to hear that. Every time we release a record, it can be hell wondering if it will go to the top or not. There are always those who will be only too ready to laugh if it does not.
"The best way to stay successful is not to take it for granted. You can't afford to let up for a moment. If you do, you are finished." He picked up a bunch of grapes from a nearby bowl of fruit. "Takes away the taste of sausage", he said, brushing back his hair, which was still wet with perspiration from the first act.
Yet underneath this air of relaxation, tension was beginning to build up as the time. For the second spot approached.
"No matter how many times we've done it," said John, "just before the curtain goes up, we all become a bag of nerves. Until you hear the crowd react approvingly, it's hell. Nerves are something even experience can't wipe out."
Yet he need not have worried. The Beatles ' last live show in Britain for probably a year must have been the best performance South Wales pop fans have seen. They just could not go wrong. After the first chord, it must have been clear even to the eldest listener present, why this foursome have become the world's greatest name in pop entertainment. Their approach, still zealously fresh, proved that they have resisted the temptation to rest on their laurels.
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