The Beatles In Auckland

The great jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong opened for the Beatles at the Auckland Town Hall in 1964, on a double bill, I sat behind the stage. Looking like four brothers, the Beatles entered. They had longish hair swept forward and across the forehead, in a style which became 'the Beatle haircut' around Auckland. Their suit jackets were three-button, accentuating slimness, height. I doubt if you would see that elegance onstage any more. There were only eleven songs on the set list that night, and the Beatles made a gracious bow to the audience after each one. I remember John and Paul's duets 'She Loves You', 'I Saw Her Standing There; ' but also George Harrison singing, to a throbbing beat, the irreverent 'Roll Over Beethoven.' Later the Beatles would split up, becoming successful in their own right as soloists, but what I remember is their concert at the Town Hall long ago. - July,2013. Revised 8 September,2019.