Where did the Beatles first perform? Although many people accept that officially it was the Indra Club in Hamburg, West Germany. This is open to debate for the following reasons.
The Beatles In the beginning
The first recorded formal venue for the band, in its original line up of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best, was the Indra Club in Hamburg, West Germany. The band were playing for a good few years before this point under other various band names and in fact the first recorded venue was the Neston Institute (now called Neston Civic hall) but it is likely the recorded name was either a misunderstanding between the reporter from the Heswall And Neston News And Advertiser or the band were operating under several aliases at this point and did indeed give The Beatles as their name.
Across a four year period from 1962 to 1966, the Beatles toured the world non-stop, that included over 1,400 performances and live concerts. At one point in late 1964 to early 1965, the Beatles played the Hammersmith Odeon for 20 nights out of a possible 23.
Read our detailed guide to The Beatles in 1964
Read our detailed guide to The Beatles in 1965
During that time they played some of the most iconic venues in the world, but where did the Beatles first perform?
It’s also worth mentioning that The Beatles witnessed a fight after one of their shows here in which a 19-year-old youth was beaten and died from a kick to the head.
They were originally booked to play The Indra Club for several months, playing over four hours per night, but that was shut down after a short period due to the noise and they moved to another Hamburg club, Kaiserkeller.
See our post “Did The Beatles Sleep With Fans?”
The Beatles at The Indra Club in Hamburg
They continued to perform in Hamburg throughout 1960, until returning home to England and playing their first proper UK gig at Litherland Town Hall on 5 January 1961, a welcome home concert after they had started to make a name for themselves.
They continued to tour in Liverpool and the surrounding areas throughout 1961, with just one stint in Hamburg from March to July. Throughout this period the line up including Pete Best but Stuart Sutcliffe had left the band.
See our post “Did the Beatles Smoke Weed?”
The Fab Four
Having met Brian Epstein in 1962 at the Cavern Club (where they performed more live shows than anywhere else), Pete Best was fired in August 1962, to be replaced by Ringo Starr.
This formed the now world-famous Fab Four and they did their first concert with this line on 18th August 1962 at a venue called Hulme Hall, in the village of Port Sunlight, located on the Wirral Penisula. Playing mainly around the Merseyside area and a few other parts of Northern England, they finally returned to Hamburg with the main line up in November 1964.
Visit Mathew Street for official Beatles merchandise
Beatlemania and the British Invasion
The Beatles performed in the United States for the first time in early 1964, as Beatlemania began. Their famous first live performance was on the Ed Sullivan show on 9th February 1964 at CBS Studio 50.
Two days later they performed their first concert on American soil at the Washington Coliseum, Washington. That short trip to America included playing the famous Carnegie Hall and two more appearances on the Ed Sullivan show, before returning home.
The rest of the world
Outside of the UK and Germany, the first country the Beatles toured was Sweden, playing in Karlstad in October 1963. After that, the next major country they toured was France in early 1964, just before flying to the United States of America for the first time.
Hong Kong in June represented their first live performance in Asia (without an ill Ringo Starr) and then later that month they started a sixteen date tour of Australia with the first-ever Australisian performance being at Centennial Hall, Adelaide on 12 June 1964.
People also ask:
Where did the Beatles first perform in Germany?
The Indra Club in Hamburg, West Germany but then then moved to the Kaiserkeller due to the Indra Club being shut down.
