ICYMI, Circa 1963: The Beatles’ Rare Swedish TV Performance That Marked Their First Big Set Outside of the UK

Many Beatles fans, especially the ones with some music history inclinations, would say that the band’s performance on The Royal Variety Show back in early November of 1963 would be the one to kick off Beatlemania. Singing in front of the Queen Mother is certainly a big deal. Others would say that Beatlemania kicked off months before that point, brewing in a big way across England, likely already spreading across the pond.

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It’s basically impossible to pinpoint exactly when The Beatles “made it,” but there were a few shows in 1963 that definitely made a very big impact on their global appeal. And one such performance might just be totally new to you, even if you’re a diehard Beatles fan. That very show took place the day before Halloween, 1963, all the way in Stockholm, Sweden.

You can watch a recording of the full 26-minute set below.

The Importance of The Beatles’ Swedish TV Set in 1963

The Beatles would go on to perform countless concerts around the world, but this particular television concert, performed on the Swedish show Drop In, is noteworthy. The tour that included this performance would be the band’s very first string of gigs outside of the UK as a nationally-famous, and increasingly globally famous, rock band. They performed in Hamburg, Germany and the like, of course, but this particular show in Sweden was the band’s first televised international gig after the kickoff of Beatlemania.

The band performed on Drop In after about a week of touring across Sweden, and I can only imagine how crazy an experience it was. When you compare the show’s backing band to The Beatles, it’s clear that the Fab Four were going to radically change the direction of popular music. Like a very important page turning, I’d say.

If you don’t think this particular performance was that important in the context of Beatles history, think again. Shortly after arriving back at Heathrow a day following this performance, the Fab Four were mobbed by about 10,000 screaming fans. The debacle disrupted flights, even. And (allegedly), Ed Sullivan’s flight was delayed because of it, which drew his attention to the hot new band, eventually leading to their legendary performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Sometimes, the smallest events can have the biggest impacts on music history.

Photo by J. Wilds/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images