John Lennon at 80: When Beatlemania hit Sheffield

People often forget, over and above the concerts The Beatles performed in the Steel City between 1963 and 1965, the starring role the city had in their career

There is no doubt The Beatles changed everything in the Sixties. They were icons within days of hitting the charts, legends before the end of that year and enjoyed multi-million selling, global domination within months of that.

Sheffield was home to the mother of Brian Epstein, the band’s manager.

Eighteen-year-old Malka, known as Queenie, married 29-year-old Harry Epstein in Broomhill in 1933.

The band’s show at the Azena Ballroom, Gleadless is the one which has taken on almost mythical status.

The gig had been booked for the home of Peter Stringfellow’s Black Cat Club, St Aiden’s Hall, Manor, but as the band’s profile soared in spring 1963, so did ticket sales.

With 2,000 tickets sold, he had no option but to find a bigger venue – the Azena.

It was carnage, with hundreds turning up without tickets, windows smashed and the fire doors opened.

Paul Cooper said: “I remember paying 6s 6d for a ticket on the black market outside the venue - I think the original price was 5s 6d.

“Someone managed to open the fire door and hundreds poured in till the police came in and restored order. It was bedlam.”

That November, The Beatles finally headlined Sheffield City Hall in their own right – they had already performed there numerous times as part of bigger tours supporting the likes of Helen Shapiro.

Former The Star journalist Francis Mullions described it as ‘the night when Sheffield went Beatle-barmy’ and tells the story of thousands of ‘frenzied screamagers’ yelling themselves hoarse.

There were hundreds of fans still outside the stage door at midnight, not realising the band had left within seconds of finishing – they did not even bother changing out of their stage clothes, but just ran.

Joan Morris recalled: “We’d been counting down the days to the show for weeks. We were Beatle-crazy. The screaming was bad enough before they started, but when they appeared it was pandemonium. “I could hardly recognise a song all night – it was impossible over the noise of the hysterics. A girl near us fainted – once she was okay, she just started screaming again.”

The Beatles said thank you and goodnight to the city on December 8, 1965, when they performed at the Gaumont, Barker’s Pool, as part of the band’s final British tour.

They outwitted the fans again as well. While they were laying siege to the stage door hours beforehand, The Beatles simply pulled up outside the main public entrance and walked in.

Ringo said at the time: “It was unusual for us.

Normally we had to hide in vans or go in through back entrances.

“They did not know what was going on.”

Taken from the Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1960s Sheffield – available from dirtystopouts.com for £13.95