How many venues from The Beatles’ first UK tour are still open today?
Judging by the sheer number of blue plaques dedicated to some part of The Beatles’ history, Britain is still very keen to hang on to some tangible reminders of the Fab Four and their pop-fuelled global domination. They were, after all, the band that laid out the blueprint for virtually every other band that followed.
You cannot blame music fans, the city of Liverpool, or even the music industry itself, for wanting to hang on to something of The Beatles, despite the fact that the band itself went their separate ways well over half a century ago. There had never been a group like them before, perfectly toeing the line between unimaginable global success and true artistic innovation, changing the music industry forevermore and striking upon a plethora of the greatest songs ever written. That kind of story isn’t easy to forget in a hurry.
Despite all of that, though, much of the band’s early history has been eroded by the passage of time and the shifting sands of the industry they forever altered. For instance, if you look back upon the itinerary of the band’s first-ever nationwide tour, very few of the venues that they played back then still stand in the modern day.
Like many young bands, particularly back in the early 1960s, The Beatles didn’t immediately launch into extensive headline tours. Instead, their first proper UK tour back in 1963 saw them perform on a bill headlined by Helen Shapiro, who was still riding high off the success of ‘Walkin’ Back To Happiness’, which had topped the singles chart back in 1961, when British pop stars were still relatively rare.
Split into two different legs across February and bleeding into early March, the tour saw the Fab Four perform at a total of 14 different venues across England – though largely revolving around the North and the Midlands, with a curious omission of any London date.
It was, by every metric, an essential tour in the development of the band, introducing them to widespread audiences who would soon return in their droves, as well as giving them time to write their very first number-one single, ‘From Me To You’, on the drive from York to Shrewsbury.
Out of those 14 venues, in which pop music was changed forever, only a sparse handful remain. Most of the venues, it must be said, were old-fashioned theatres, many of which were soon converted into cinemas. Many of them, such as the Southport Odeon, Doncaster Gaumont, and Wakefield’s ABC Cinema, have since been demolished – the former being replaced by a branch of Sainsbury’s in the 1980s, and the latter having been derelict for many years before finally being pulled down in 2023.
Meanwhile, some of the buildings which housed The Beatles still remain, but have since been converted into bingo halls (Taunton Gaumont and Shrewsbury Granada) or, in the case of Carlisle’s Regal Theatre, a bicycle shop. There are only, in fact, four venues from The Beatles’ first nationwide tour that still exist as venues.
The tour commenced at the Gaumont theatre in Bradford, a building with an extensive and tumultuous history, at one time being the largest of its kind outside of London. During the 1970s, the building was converted into a cinema, before closing its doors and spending many years derelict. It was only recently, in fact, that the building was the subject of extensive renovations and, today, it is a live music venue once again, operating under the name Bradford Live.
Sunderland’s Empire Theatre is another that is still operating as a venue, though it tends to focus more on theatre productions, live comedy, and tribute acts these days, as does the Hanley Gaumont (now renamed the Regent Theatre). Sheffield City Hall tends to book the same sorts of events these days, though their calendar does include a few music acts, too – none, admittedly, of the same calibre as The Beatles.
Every year, we hear news of more and more live music venues closing their doors in the UK, and each closure is an absolute travesty as far as grassroots music is concerned.
There is, however, something particularly heartbreaking about the fact that the vast majority of those beautiful Victorian and Georgian theatres, cinemas, and music-halls that The Beatles visited on that monumental tour all those years ago have since been reduced to rubble, taking with them a key part of the 20th century’s cultural history.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Beatles Newsletter
All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.