THE LAST CONCERT

The Beatles played their last ever concert on August 29,1966 at Candlestick Park,San Francisco.Many had been wondering why the greatest rock band on earth had suddenly decided to stop playing live,the concerts that served to be as predecessors were proven to be dangerous and life threatening to the Beatles.

The Beatles went through a lot of problems regarding touring,and worst of all,things were not fun anymore for our beloved fab four. So why did the Beatles decided to stop touring? We can all go back to where it all started and pick up the pieces like a jigsaw puzzle so we can all understand the reason behind the Beatles' retirement.

Candlestick Park is an outdoor sports and entertainment center located at Jamestown Avenue,San Francisco.Home of  the 49ers since 1971,it was also a home to the San Francisco Giants from 1960 until the team moved to AT&T Park in 2000.The venue has changed names several times wherein it was renamed 3com Park at Candlestick Point in 1995, it was renamed again as San Francisco Stadium At Candlestick Point in 2002,and it was renamed again as Monster Park in 2004.They returned the old name as Candlestick Park to avoid further confusions in 2008 and has remained since.Originally a baseball stadium,the arena was known to have windy conditions,damp air and dew from fog and was known for its chilly temperatures.Not to mention the location of the stadium at Candlestick Point, which is right next to the San Francisco Bay.

(photo:Candlestick Park,San Francisco,California)

Now going back to the Beatles' so-called retirement,it can all be traced back to the early days when the band was a quintet fresh from the ashes of the Quarry Men,originally a skiffle group John Lennon and a couple of school friends had formed.Skiffle groups were popular in Britain back in the mid-fifties and then slowly the skiffle group evolved into a rock band after Paul and George had joined in.The Beatles were a quintet from 1958 to 1960,a fifth member by the name of Stuart Sutcliffe was originally on bass and Paul McCartney at the time was a guitar player.The Beatles had reached the Reeperbahn where the then quintet has spent ages mastering their craft.As John Lennon had put it,"I was born in Liverpool but I grew up in Hamburg".The Beatles were introduced to amphetamines and other uppers to stay awake at night during their gigs,and of course as a bar band,riots and trouble took place often,with the loudest and rudest musician one would come across during that period of time-John Lennon.Though the Beatles were used to having riots taking place at some of their gigs most of the time,everything seemed to be ok--they were young,free and wouldn't care if they would get into fist fights often--as John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe certainly did.Sutcliffe,who had quit the band in 1961,died of a brain hemorrhage a year later with his illness pointing to several head blows he had when he was beaten up by thugs in which he sustained a fractured skull.John Lennon,who was his best friend in the band had often come to his aid.

(photo:The Beatles circa 1960:left to right:Pete Best,George Harrison,John Lennon,Paul McCartney and Stuart Sutcliffe)


When the Beatles became a quartet,Paul McCartney had switched from guitar to bass to fill in the vacancy Sutcliffe had left behind.With Pete Best on drums,the Beatles went ahead playing  gigs in various bars in both Liverpool and Hamburg.

Riots were common with rock bands performing and the Beatles were no exception.With the callous Lennon,the band had often faced several unfriendly encounters as the Beatles were becoming more popular.

When Pete Best was sacked and Ringo Starr replaced him on drums,the Beatles had a few problems at first with their audience particularly anti-Ringo sentiments at the height of Best's firing.

The band secured a recording contract with Parlophone and Beatlemania was born.No one in the band has expected that this rock group from Liverpool will become such a phenomenon and that they will all be into extreme levels of fame.Not even Paul McCartney himself even thought that kind of life they will all soon be leading.The Beatles were now stars and theres no more privacy--going out alone and touring wasn't fun anymore.Beatlemania at this point had reached the US and the Beatles is at the top of the world.

 Though the sixties were soon followed by other rock bands on both sides of the Atlantic,one will admit that the Beatles alone were on the mountain top of fame on this planet.Actually it was Ringo Starr who first talked about having fears of going out alone and being mobbed by a bunch of what he describes as lunatics who show extreme love for the band.

It took for the worst when somebody told the music press that George Harrison was fond of jelly babies and that on their next US gig they were pelted with these hard rock candies being thrown by their audiences as they were performing onstage.Ringo once again expressed his sentiments in 1969 of not being bombarded with these hard stuff ifsoever the band would ever go out there and tour again.Sadly,a thing that has never happened and will never happen again.

Come to think of it,its pretty dangerous to go out when you're so popular and you might get mobbed by your fans who love you so much and might get hurt from it.But what more if these people hated you?

On the second American tour,the other Beatles were showing signs of in very deep water,sick of touring management and pressure.Though Paul McCartney kept telling John,George and Ringo that touring is good and will keep them sharp.The Beatles were reportedly exhausted and have worked to their deaths,touring non-stop around the world and at the same time writing new songs and making new albums in between tours.

Things turned out for the worst in 1966 when Melody Maker published an interview of Maureen Cleave with John Lennon wherein he stated that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus.

"We're popular than Jesus now;I dont know what will go first,Rock N' Roll or Christianity"

This statement of John Lennon's has caused a furor among Christian sects around the world particularly America's Bible belt.Isn't the "South" the birthplace of rock n' roll? Well many were amazed on how Elvis broke barriers and became popular in such a conservative and at the time apartheid place.There were public burnings of Beatles records in Memphis and other parts of the US where Christian faith dominates.Beatles records were also burned as far as South Africa.The band was also reportedly having problems in the 1960s era United States wherein they refused to play on segregated audiences and threatened they wont play at all unless the racial segregation is lifted.Concert promoters and local authorities finally kowtowed to the fabs-the segregation was lifted and the Beatles went ahead and performed before thousands of people.

(photo left: John Lennon in the Beatles' early days Hamburg,Germany)

John Lennon defended his statement at first saying that he was merely misunderstood on what he has just said,even pointing out to other people who doesn't believe or even know who Jesus was--like the Buddhist for instance but at the same time were huge fans of the Beatles.Then he was forced to make an apology in which it was clear has put a strain on him a bit.

Amid all the misunderstandings both religiously and politically,the Beatles were still loved by millions of fans but the wary parents of these Beatlemaniacs were obviously distressed on how their kids will believe in everything they say.

So the Beatles were considered "jerks" by elders and religious charismatics on destroying their beliefs and trying to manipulate the kids' minds into believing in something else in which many quite dont understand-- perhaps a world that is infinitely cooler than our own.And the so-called rebellion flourished with these youngsters annoying their elders with a thing called rock music.Lets face it,Beatles music is for everyone and if you'll look at those Beatles concerts,the audience was filled not only with young men and women but also middle aged women who were crazy about them.

While we're on the subject,these "traditions" and "beliefs"other people were accusing the Beatles of breaking has also caused problems to the band during their Japanese tour in the summer of 1966.

(photo:The Budokan in Tokyo,Japan where the Beatles held three shows from June 30 to July 2,1966)

The Beatles' concert in Japan were also faced with protests and riots as the Budokan will be used for the first time as a concert venue for a rock n' roll band.Before the Beatles went to Japan,the Budokan  was considered to be a sacred  place by other Japanese,as the venue was used in both judo and karate tournaments only.The Japanese protests were also filled with anger towards the band on some believe how they would be a bad example to the Japanese youth.

But above it all,the Beatles' three day shows in Tokyo were equally successful.

The Beatles-being the first rock group to ever play in the Budokan seemed to have made the place a little lighter that other artists have followed their footsteps and played at the same venue,among them were Eric Clapton,the Who and Ozzy Osbourne.

The horror of Manila,on the other hand,was different from what the Beatles have encountered on their previous tours and it was said that the tour of the Philippines was the one thing that had prompted the band to put an end to their career as "touring" musicians.

(photo left:Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila,Philippines where the Beatles held their concert on July 4,1966)

What happened in the Philippines was far different from what the band had experienced in the US and Japan.The Beatles' experience in Manila nearly caused them their very own lives as they unintentionally snubbed a dinner party held by then first lady Imelda Marcos,who was the wife of Ferdinand Marcos by then was gearing up to be a dictator.The band was roughed up at the airport,with their entourage heavily beaten and the money they earned was taken away from them.

[For my article about the Beatles' experience in the Philippines click here]

It was alleged that the Beatles told their manager Brian Epstein that they had enough with touring after they came back from the Philippines.But Epstein had already committed on touring the States after the disastrous Manila concert.And sadly,that's the last time the band would ever do.

Meanwhile,back in the United States,a concert in Memphis was known to have been marred with protests as a member of the Ku Klux Klan made a statement that they will stop the concert in all terror that they can.Still pissed with Lennon's statement regarding Jesus,the Klans men didn't stop the concert but instead organized an anti-Beatle rally not far from the venue.It was also in Memphis,however,where the infamous 'cherry bomb' explosion occured.

(photo:Ku Klux Klan,courtesy of the Ku Klux Klan site)

 The Beatles played 13 dates in the US and one in Canada the following month of August.And sadly,the San Francisco gig had finally nailed the touring coffin for all of them.

The San Francisco concert,being the last gig went fine so far and was considered to be successful.The band performed 11 songs,some of which were similar to the set list they played in other countries (the Manila gig set list was the same as that of San Francisco's):Rock And Roll Music,She's A Woman,If I Needed Someone,Day Tripper,Baby's In Black,I Feel Fine,Yesterday,I Wanna Be Your Man,Nowhere Man,Paperback Writer, and Long Tall Sally.With the only difference that the band had used Long Tall Sally as an encore in Manila and not on the SF gig.

 (photo left:original poster of the last concert ever made by the Beatles;Candlestick Park,San Francisco)

Paul McCartney had Tony Barrow record the entire concert in audio,standing in the middle of the field holding his mic,both of them knew it was going to be the last live performance and so they're obviously saving all the best for last.At the end of the concert,all four of them took photos of the adoring crowd and of themselves at arm's length.

(photo:John and Paul at Candlestick Park)

And the rest,as they say it,is history,the Beatles retired from doing live performances when they went back to Britain from San Francisco.The band concentrated instead on the studio making their finest albums of the late sixties and early seventies with most of them going to number one on both sides of the Atlantic.A few attempts were made to convince them to go back on touring but none was successful.One album,originally titled "Get Back" was an attempt for the band to retrace their live roots,with suggestions by Paul McCartney that the band would go on tour on bars and starting all over again and gradually doing major tours.The idea was nixed by the other three,perhaps the wounds of the past ill-fated tour was still fresh both in their minds and hearts so the band went on to record in the studio while being filmed at the same time.The album was later renamed Let It Be perhaps a more appropriate title from McCartney's song of reflection and surrender.And one would consider the roof top performance made by the Beatles as the last ever public performance made by the four of them.Though not really considered as a "concert" many were wondering why the Beatles doing a set of songs on the main roof top of the Apple Building as their last concert--without a real venue,touring posters and concert tickets.The Beatles had split in acrimony in April 1970,a month before Let It Be was released.

The Beatles played approximately 1,280 concert dates so far dating as far back as 1961 when Pete Best was still in the group and not counting their gigs as the Quarry Men and the Silver Beatles.They've been to almost every country around the world in four continents: Europe,North America,Asia and Australia.

The band has indeed revolutionized everything,from music to fashion and the way people think.One cannot imagine what music will be like today without a rock band from Liverpool called THE BEATLES.