The year 2014 has been a good one for commemorating notable music events or releases of the past, aligning nicely with round-number anniversaries for stuff that happened in 1984, 1989, 1994, and so on. But as usual, the Beatles trump them all, as today’s the 50th anniversary of their Boston Garden concert.
The Fab Four rolled into town 50 years ago today for the first of only two shows they’d ever play in Boston — the other was at Suffolk Downs two years later — and the local stop was the 18th of a 24-date North American tour. The band arrived in Massachusetts after playing the Gator Bowl the night before, and they greeted the press at the Hotel Madison in North Station with southern accents.
Though the audio is spotty, you can watch video of the Beatles’ Boston press conference below. For a full transcript, go to beatlesinterviews.org.
Tonight and through the weekend at the West End Museum on Staniford Street in Boston, the concert and press conference is remembered by the exhibit “The Beatles Invade Boston: 50th Anniversary Celebration / Reliving The Madison Press Conference.” The opening reception starts at 5 p.m.
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Beatles concert in Boston. Come see the exhibit featuring photos of The Madison press conference and the band concert at the Boston Garden, plus Beatles memorabilia. Meet-and-greet with Ron Campbell, a director and an animator on ABC’s Saturday morning cartoon series The Beatles (1965-1969) [see one of Campbell’s episode’s here] and an animator on The Beatles film, Yellow Submarine.
Then at 7 p.m., tales of the Madison press conference will be shared by three college students who “crashed” the event and got up close with Ringo and the boys.
The Beatles stayed at Boston’s Hotel Madison, adjacent to North Station and connected to the Garden. Prior to the sold-out concert on September 12, 1964, the group held a press conference at The Madison, which was infamously “crashed” by three college-age friends. Steve Small, Rich Hershenson and Charlie Kimball successfully finagled their way in, snapped photos, asked questions and even shook hands with John, Paul, George and Ringo. Small, Hershenson and Kimball will relive The Madison press conference and share film clips and photos. Later on, Roger Greenawalt will delight us with his ukulele performance of Beatles songs.
For more details on the West End series and all the Beatles-related events this weekend, click here.
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