Excluding their iconic rooftop performance in January 1969, the Beatles performed their final U.K. concert at the Empire Pool in Wembley, London, as part of the New Musical Express annual Poll-Winners’ All-Star Concert. As the event title suggests, it was a star-studded evening featuring the Fab Four alongside Roy Orbison, The Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield, the Yardbirds, and the Who—a true who’s who of 1960s pop.
Videos by American Songwriter
The Beatles’ performance preceded their official announcement that they would no longer perform live. But in a way, their five-song set list was an appropriate farewell to fans.
The Beatles’ Last Five Songs At Empire Pool
Ten thousand fans watched the Beatles perform what would be their final U.K. performance on May 1, 1966 (that is, until their rooftop concert at Apple headquarters three years later). ABC TV filmed the concert, but because Brian Epstein and the network couldn’t reach an agreement on a contract, the Beatles’ set didn’t air on television. Trouble backstage over whether the Beatles or the Rolling Stones should headline threatened to derail the set altogether, but lo and behold, the Beatles made their way to the stage for their 15-minute set.
The Fab Four’s set included five songs: “I Feel Fine,” “If I Needed Someone,” “Day Tripper,” “Nowhere Man,” and “I’m Down.” The set pulled from several albums, including Help!, Rubber Soul, and Beatles ‘65. The blend of raging rockers and existential psychedelia foreshadowing future albums like Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band perfectly encapsulated the Beatles’ artistic progress at that specific moment. Moreover, the songs almost served as a final goodbye to their fans without the audience even knowing it.
The happy romanticism of “I Feel Fine.” The aloof detachment of “If I Needed Someone.” Hints of psychedelia and sexuality in “Day Tripper.” An existential crisis in “Nowhere Man.” The emotional turmoil of “I’m Down.” If fans had listened more closely, they might have picked up on the feelings of burnout, alienation, and longing for something new that the Beatles were describing in their short set.
The Fab Four Was Ready To Hang It Up
Beatlemania was in full swing in the late 1960s, and as the Fab Four soon came to find out, they could only withstand so many years of running away from crazed fans. According to New Musical Express editor Derek Johnson, the Beatles had to sneak into Wembley Stadium dressed as chefs, pastry trays and all, just to avoid the frenzied mob of Beatle lovers anxiously awaiting their arrival. “They got in without being spotted and were running across the kitchen when Ringo [Starr] tripod and his tray of cakes went everywhere, followed by the other three landing in a heap on top of him like a Marx brothers routine,” Jones later recalled.
As absurd and hilarious as the scene might be, the need to engage in these wild shenanigans just to do their job was starting to wear the Beatles down. By the end of that year, the band officially announced they would no longer be performing live. Paul McCartney outlined the band’s reasoning in an NME interview, saying, “One reason we don’t want to tour anymore is that when we’re on stage, nobody can hear us or listen to us. Another reason is that our stage act hasn’t improved one bit since we started touring four years ago. The days when three guitarists and a drummer could stand up and sing and do nothing else on stage must be over.”
McCartney said that transitioning to studio-only musicians would also help them focus on their craft, and indeed it did. Following their departure from life on the road, the Beatles produced some of their finest works yet, including Revolver, their eponymous “White Album,” Abbey Road, and Let It Be. No funny disguises or kitchen slapstick routines required.
Photo by Fremantle Media/Shutterstock
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.