PHOTOGRAPHY
COURTESY
OF
THE
CHICAGO
HISTORY
MUSEUM
On their first
North American tour,
The Beatles are greeted
by more than 5,000 fans
at Chicago's Midway
Airport in 1964.
More than 5,000 screaming fans gathered at Midway Airport on September 5,
1964, hoping to catch a glimpse of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George
Harrison, and Ringo Starr as The Beatles made their Chicago debut. Although
the mop-topped lads from Liverpool spent barely a day in Chicago, their brief
visit made an instant impression.
Buzz surrounding the band had been building since their wildly popular
performance on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. The theatrical release
of A Hard Day's Night in August as well as several chart-topping hits heightened
anticipation for the band's first North American tour, a 24-city extravaganza
that included a stop in the Windy City. "If you wanted a dose of Beatlemania,
you got that in Chicago," says Chicago-based Beatles historian Walter J.
Podrazik, coauthor of All Together Now: The First Complete Beatles Discography,
1961–1975 and other Fab Four
–
centric works. During the band's 34-minute
set at the International Amphitheatre, 13,000 frenzied fans (mostly teenage
girls) packed in to watch the band perform 11 hit songs like "I Want to Hold
Your Hand" and "She Loves You," while thousands waited outside.
The Beatles would return to Chicago in 1965 for two shows (and a trip to ice
cream institution Margie's Candies) and would later visit the now demolished
International Amphitheatre in 1966 to kick off their final tour. Fifty years later,
Chicagoans have yet to tire of the Fab Four. "People are listening to The Beatles
today," muses Podrazik. "Young fans are tuning into the same vibrations—the
same attraction to basic, good rock 'n' roll—that drew their parents, their
grandparents, or even their great-grandparents. The music is timeless, and
that's why it's embraced by every generation."
MA
FEVER PITCH
FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS MONTH, BEATLEMANIA TOOK CHICAGO BY STORM AS JOHN, PAUL, GEORGE,
AND RINGO PAID THEIR FIRST VISIT TO THE WINDY CITY.
BY ANNIE BRUCE
16 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM
FRONT RUNNER
