gledwards Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 The Beatles appeared at the City Hall twice, 1962 and 1963. Firt time they were second to Helen Shapiro, the following year at the top of the bill. One of them, think it was John Lennon, had a cousin who lived in the Wisewood area. My wife and I were invited to a house party there in 1962, where they were attending, but couldn't be bothered. If only we knew then....... My Mum went to this party with her brother.He spent most of the night under a table with Paul:loopy: John Lennon and George Harrison took a shine to my mum and she ended up kissing them both!She met them a few times after this backstage and has their autographs.Unfortunately on the one occasion she took a camera with her the flash didn't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theimposter Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 The Azena is now the Somerfield (Kwik Save) on White Lane- that's where the Beatles played. I think there should be some recognition of this by the store...a plaque maybe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennonman Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 I agree with the Imposter i think there should be some kind of a plaque outside where the Beatles played. I remember the Azena still being there when i was a kid and grew up with the tale of the Beatles playing there just as they were getting famous, its hard to believe now but they must have played every hall and youth club in the early days just to get on the ladder of success. Im a massive fan now and would have loved to have been old enough to see them in their prime. With Macca still doing his stuff there is still a chance to see a legend sometime in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenC Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 I can't explain how jealous I am of you all - I was definitely born in the wrong era Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennonman Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 yeah i remember my sister seeing them at the city hall and she had a programme with Roy Orbison on the bill. I scribbled all over it and it must be worth a few bob now i was a right little bugger! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 mojoworking from a thread back in Sept 2004 - whatever happended to him? The Beatles played in Sheffield a total of seven times. The first Sheffield concert was at the Azena Ballroom, White Lane, Gleadless on 12 February 1963. Peter Stringfellow paid £85 to book them. Although Peter had originally been quoted £65, Brian Epstein put the price up to £90 "because they've got a record in the charts", which was then haggled down by a fiver. Stringfellow originally planned to book them to play at his Black Cat Club (St. Aiden's Church Hall), but because he couldn't fit enough people in to cover the huge booking fee of £85 (most "name" bands charged between £35 - £50 back then), he hired the Azena for the night, which cost him £29. The Azena normally held 500 people, but Stringfellow sold 2,000 tickets and it's estimated another 1,000 showed up on the night. Tickets were four shillings (20p) rising to five shillings (25p) when demand took off. Just pause and think about that: 25p to see the Beatles! God knows how they did it, but the Beatles also played another gig on the same day in Oldham, Lancs. The exact set list for the Azena show is lost in the mists of time, but they were only playing one Chuck Berry song live around that time (Too Much Monkey Business). The rest of the set would have been songs from their first LP including: Chains, Keep Your Hands Off My Baby, Please Please Me, Love Me Do, A Taste Of Honey, Do You Want To Know A Secret, I Saw Her Standing There. By an amazing coincidence the Beatles had just recorded the remaining 10 tracks which would make up their debut LP on 11th Feb - the day before the Azena gig! All ten tracks were recorded in the one day, the remaining 4 tracks (it was a 14 track LP) being the A & B sides of their first two singles (Love Me Do & Please Please Me), which were already released. Interestingly, The Beatles were back in Sheffield only a few weeks later on 2 March and then again on 16 March. Both concerts took place at the City Hall during the first wave of Beatlemania. For the second of the City Hall shows, The Star organized a competition in which six of their readers could win a trip to the ABC Television Studios in Birmingham to meet the Beatles. Reviewing the concert in the Star, journalist Francis Mullins called it "the night when Sheffield went Beatle-barmy" and described how 4,000 "frenzied screamagers" yelled themselves hoarse during the two shows at the hall. The Beatles played Sheffield again two months later when they appeared at the City Hall as part of a Roy Orbison package tour on 25 May 1963. Roy started the tour as headliner, but was moved to second on the bill after a few concerts, as the Beatles' popularity was growing daily. Their fifth visit of 1963 was on November 2, again at the City Hall, where they were billed as headliners for the first time. The Beatles' final City Hall concert took place a year later on November 9, 1964. Once again the Stringfellow brothers had a hand in it. Sheffield originally wasn't on the tour itinerary, but Pete & Geoff Stringfellow dropped in to see Brian Epstein at his London office to petition him to ensure that Sheffield was added. The brothers impressed Epstein and he not only agreed to the gig, but offered the brothers the opportunity of compering the City Hall concerts that evening instead of the tour compere Bob Bain. The Beatles stayed overnight at the Park Hall Residential Country Club in Spinhill, near Sheffield, having landed on the lawn in front of the building by helicopter. The club later became the Parkhall Hotel and Restaurant. Their seventh and final Sheffield appearance took place at the Gaumont Cinema, Barker's Pool on Wednesday 8 December 1965. It was their only appearance at this venue and was one of the very last concert dates the group performed in Britain (the last time the Beatles played live in front of an audience was at Candlestick Park, San Francisco on August 29, 1966) Compering the Gaumont show was a local lad, Jerry Stevens of Seagrave Avenue, Gleadless. He said, "It is a big experience working with the Beatles and I have learned a lot. I said before I met them I thought they were the greatest. Now I think they are even better than I thought they were." During the show Jerry presented them with two Top Stars Special awards. The first was for being voted the most popular group by the Sheffield readers of the paper, the second was for Help! voted the most popular single of the year. Ironically, Seagrave Avenue runs off White Lane, which kind of takes us back to where we started. I can't help wondering if young Jerry was also in the audience for the Azena show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenC Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 ^ Wow thanks for all that, it was really interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennonman Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 yes thanks for that mikey im always fascinated with beatle history, particularly when it involves Sheffield, great stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 I saw them at the City Hall in November '63. Saw is the operative word because you couldn't hear a note of their music over the non stop screaming and shreiking of the audience. I was in the circle and nearly got decapitated by a girl behind me with a scarf with a weight in the end of it. She was whirling it round over her head like a helicopter. There was also a vogue for throwing jelly babies at them. The stage was ankle deep in them by the end of the show. By far the best pop concert I've ever been to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beesa rider Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 The Beatles played in Sheffield a total of seven times. The exact set list for the Azena show is lost in the mists of time, but they were only playing one Chuck Berry song live around that time (Too Much Monkey Business). The rest of the set would have been songs from their first LP including: Chains, Keep Your Hands Off My Baby, Please Please Me, Love Me Do, A Taste Of Honey, Do You Want To Know A Secret, I Saw Her Standing There. Somewhere at home I have a photocoycopy of a Beatles postcard allegedly the actual set list for the Azena gig in John Lennons handwriting. The actual card is (or maybe was) owned a guy who was drummer with the support band that night, I've no idea who he was nor indeed how the photocopy came my way. On the set list, from memory, they did Please Please me twice - second time as closer. Apparently it was released in between Stringfellow's lucky booking and their actual appearance. If I can find the copy, is there a way of putting a scan on this site ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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