An online Beatles fan club for and about Beatle fans
Wednesday, August 12, 2026
13,000 Beatles Fans Scream Adulation (1966)
13,000 Beatles Fans Scream Adulation to Prophets of Din
By Thomas Willis
Chicago Tribune
August 13, 1966
"Prepare yourselves", said the bass voice behind us, and there in the flesh were the prophets of den, something like 13,000 treble voices sliced the echoing International Amphitheater yesterday afternoon with a knifing scream, which instantly passed the aureole threshold of pain.
Flash bulbs from 1,000 cameras stabbed the dark hall with continuous lightning. Paul, John, and George half-ran down the curtained stairs at the rear of the small stage, crowded with the giant speaker cabinets and winking electronic gear of a 1500-watt amplifying system. Ringo clambered to the drummer's throne at the rear. The Beatles had arrived.
The infernal shriek continued practically unabated for the 27 minutes allotted to the ensemble, swirling in the ear and setting off those internal harmonic rings, which last and last. Now and then the nerves rebelled and reduced it all to a jumble of wind, letting it whistle by. The amplifiers contributed a harmony or two, which could be recognized "Yesterday," "Paperback Writer," "Rock and Roll Music", in a voice which could be identified with the lips of the performers on stage.
This was all the vast majority of participants and the tribal rite required. Tributes, cigarette butts, paper balls, popcorn bags, and possibly a jelly bean or two landed on the stage with one narrow miss on a Beatle's head; favored with a notice, young admirers in the front rows sobbed their gratitude. Farther back in the audience, the merest wave in any direction set off renewed waves of adulation. Affected girls bobbed up like popping corn, only to be motioned to their seats by one of the 200 Andy Frain ushers holding flashlights.
The quartet, smartly dressed in green, went on with the show even when the amplifier, overloaded with screams, gave out, leaving Ringo Starr's drum solo practically unaccompanied. John Lennon flashed his cheesecake smile at a photographer and tried a Hindu neck trick or two. Paul McCartney said it was "good to be back" and "thank you" to everyone. George Harrison spent much of the time getting his guitar, at least, turned on.
The rest of the afternoon was given over to the Remains, who worked hard keeping things moving. The Ronettes, three girls who must sing better than their amateurish presence indicates. Bobby Hebb, a razzle dazzle imitation of Sammy Davis Jr., and the Cyrcles, a pleasant boyish quartet who are not above singing four-part harmony.
In the audience was Seiji Ozawa, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra summer conductor at Ravinia. It is just possible his ears may stop ringing before tonight's Van Cliburn reception.
In this observer's opinion, the Beatles have made notable contributions to folk poetry with their gentle, psychologically valid lyrics and their adventurous use of instruments that place them in a different league from the rest of a gimmick-ridden industry. As a gesture of thanks, perhaps attendance at a concert is in order. Once, though, is enough.
The Frain ushers were assisted by 105 policemen under the direction of Captain Leo Powers of Area Three and 200 firemen under the direction of Division Marshal Francis Murphy. Looking over the crowd of neatly dressed, well-behaved youngsters before the concert, it was hard to see the necessity for such precautions. After the banshee yell began, we understood.
Gross take for the two concerts was reported at $136,000. The Beatles will leave early today for Detroit. Next stop on their 18-day tour, which includes Cleveland, Washington, Philadelphia, Toronto, Boston, Memphis, Cincinnati, St. Louis, New York, Seattle, and Los Angeles, winding up in San Francisco on August 29.
Beatles Booster Ages Reporter (1966)
Beatles Booster Ages Reporter
By Vern Richey
The Decatur Daily Review (Illinois)
August 14, 1966
This tired and aging reporter (age 29), who dreams of setting off to tramp bamboo forests in quest of ancient and absolutely silent civilizations, met the ultimate enemy Saturday night-a Beatles fan. She appeared in the newspaper office, looking rational enough, and indeed, if one did not listen to what she was saying, 20-year-old Sara Mickel of 625 Bell Street would appear to be just another student of medical photography at Decatur and Macon County Hospital.
She uses words I never heard of: pop rock, Beatle boots, fake Mod. It's not worth going into the definition she gave. Sara was still bouncing her knee up and down as she turned in some film she had shot and recalled her feelings of Friday night's Beatles concert. That is the word, isn't it? In Chicago.
She had paid $5.75 for the privilege of watching the mop-haired quartet from Britain work their way through 11 songs. "They had on soft gray-green suits and red shirts," she explained to a gray Brooks Brothers-clad reporter. "When they had brought on Ringo's drums, that really turned the kids on. When they came on stage, it lit up. I didn't really want to scream," She said. "I wanted to dance as I listened to them."
Before you put Sara down as a culturally deprived young lady. It must be noted that when she isn't listening to the Beatles, she has all their records, but three. She listens to Tchaikovsky or Bach. Her father is Doctor Jere C Mickel, chairman of the speech department at Millikin University.
Feeling older by the minute, I ask "Why the Beatles? What makes them so special?"
"They're original. I like the idea they can think for themselves. I feel like I would want them for friends," She answered.
Sara explained that when Beatle John Lennon made his celebrated remark about the group being more popular than Christ, he was misunderstood. "He was talking about the 'Sunday Christians' who go to church one day of the week and forget about it the rest," she said. "John has been studying religion a lot lately, and he's very serious about it."
Sara feels that the popular reaction given the Beatles in Chicago is an indication that their teenage, subteen, and overteen friends understand them, and that they will never fade, as some have been predicting. Now, there's a comforting thought for you.
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Beatles Sing New Tune in Subdued Tone Here (1966)
Beatles Sing New Tune in Subdued Tone Here
By Jean Etsinger
Chicago Tribune
August 13, 1966
On my way to the blasphemous Beatles press conference, this cab driver told me, "I guess they didn't really mean it. (You know whose remark about you know what) But they shouldn't boast about themselves."
Well, if they ever did before, they don't any more. I was prepared for most anything from the Beatles, except quiet, polite, and thoughtful replies to reporters' questions. From what they've been saying during their brief stay in Chicago, the four floptops not only don't think they're greater than Jesus, they don't even wish they were.
In the press conference Thursday, the Beatles apologized for a slur upon Christianity attributed to John Lennon in an interview. Lennon told reporters he didn't mean it, and "I don't have unchristian thoughts."
Their first night's headquarters were at the Astor Towers Hotel, Astor and Scott Streets, but they slept at the Ascot Motel, 11th and Michigan Avenue, and spent last night at another undisclosed hotel. The secret maneuvers were undertaken to prevent teenage crowds from creating incidents outside the Astor Towers Hotel.
Things weren't up to Beatlemania standards. Some 200 teenagers, mostly girls, dutifully demonstrated for their idols. Now and then. Mostly when the television cameras were grinding, and the flash bulbs were flaring in their faces. When "they" tossed a paper object from a top-floor window, dozens of screaming girls dived to the pavement, trying to grasp it. A few emerged triumphantly with wadded scraps. One of the few males noted, "Maybe next time they'll throw something big -- like Ringo."
Are the Beatles still number one? Not according to a group of teens I talked with outside the hotel. One boy said the Byrds are the most popular, but the other voted for the Stones and the Raiders. "Mostly because we see them a lot on television and dance to the records."
John Lennon says "We don't think we're slipping. Our music is better. Our sales are slipping," he says it as if it's no big thing. In fact, I got the impression that being a Beatle isn't the greatest sometimes. This is the group's third visit to Chicago on tour, and they've yet to see anything of the city. George Harrison notes philosophically that if they really do slip in popularity, "Then we'll get to do things like visit Chicago." That made me feel sort of sad.
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