The Beatles kicked off their first full-blown North American tour on August 19, 1964.
Yes, the Fab Four had played shows on the East Coast in early 1964, most notably their appearances on the Ed Sullivan show where 74 million people tuned in.
But the tour starting at the Cow Palace in San Francisco was a proper tour, and quite the whirlwind where John, Paul, George, and Ringo would play 32 shows in 31 days.
But why the Cow Palace? Apparently Beatles manager Brian Epstein was nervous the Liverpudlians wouldn’t be able to fill the nearby Candlestick Park baseball stadium and it’s 50,000 seat capacity, so he played it safe and booked the humorously named arena to the west in Daly City.
read more at: Setlist.fm
