21 April 1963
Concert:
New Musical Express Poll-Winners' Concert
Empire Pool, Empire Way, Wembley, Middlesex
Please Please Me
From Me To You
Twist And Shout
Long Tall Sally
The Beatles with their tailor, Dougie Millings
Also on the bill were the Joe Loss Orchestra, the Springfields, Mark Wynter, the Jet Harris-Tony Meehan Group, Frank Ifield, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen, Adam Faith, the Shadows, Mike Berry, the Tornados, the Brook Brothers, Joe Brown and his Bruvvers, Billy Fury, and Cliff Richard.
John Stewart recalled: "I was playing the London Palladium and the opening of the London Hilton with the Kingston Trio. We were big fans of the Springfields and we went to see them get an award at some big concert. The Most Promising New Band was the Beatles and they did 'Twist And Shout' and some of their own songs. Nick Reynolds and I both said, 'That's it. When this hits America, it's over for us.' Within a few months, 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' had come out, they had done the Ed Sullivan show and we never had another Top 40 record."
Source: http://www.spencerleigh.demon.co.uk/Fabs_Americans.htm
Concert:
Pigalle Club, Piccadilly, London
Tony Rivers recalls: "On the 21st April 1963, we [the Castaways] supported the Beatles at the 'Pigalle' nightclub on Piccadilly, London. This was a great gig. They had just come from Wembley Arena where they had received 'best group award' or something, and also dicovered that their famous 'Beatle' suits had gone missing!. We did our set to open the show, and while we were playing we could hear the Beatles clapping behind the curtain at the back of the stage. 'Lon' Lyons our rhythm guitarist, thought it would be a great idea to pull back the curtain and let everyone see the Beatles - wrong! The audience went potty and that was it! Dumb move!
Watching 'The Beatles' up really close was amazing. My wife Pat was with me on the side of the stage, no more than 5/6 feet from George Harrison. They were great! Earlier that evening we'd sat in a pub just outside the club, with Ringo Starr. He seemed to be a bit of an outsider at that time. He said that he hadn't been with them for long and didn't really know them too well. The rest of the Beatles stood talking to Gerry Marsden and Sounds Inc. at the bar."
Source: http://www.craftweb.org/web/tony/cast3.html
The Stage and Television Today, 25 April 1963
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