Festival Hall, Brisbane: The Beatles' 1964 Concerts and the Site Today

The Beatles played four concerts at Festival Hall in Brisbane, two on 29 June and two on 30 June 1964, closing the Australian leg of their tour. The hall stood on the corner of Albert and Charlotte streets. It was demolished in 2003, and the Festival Towers apartment building now fills the site. There is no Beatles plaque.

Eggs at Eagle Farm

The Beatles flew into Eagle Farm airport just after midnight on 29 June 1964. More than 200 uniformed police and 20 detectives were waiting with the fans. As the band passed, a handful of people at the back of the crowd pelted them with eggs, tomatoes, orange peel, newspapers and a cushion. After that the Beatles made no unplanned public appearances in Brisbane. They stayed under round-the-clock guard in a fourth-floor suite at Lennons Hotel on George Street.

Four shows in two nights

The concerts were at Festival Hall, which had opened in 1959 on the site of the older Brisbane Stadium. The band played two shows each night on 29 and 30 June. Each drew between about 5,000 and 5,500 people. The Phantoms, Johnny Devlin and Sounds Incorporated filled most of the 90-minute bill, and the Beatles played for roughly half an hour.

Eggs came at the stage during one of the Brisbane shows too. The band carried on, and the throwers were put out of the hall. The Beatles left from Eagle Farm on 1 July, seen off by about 500 fans and 100 police.

Some references, including the Wikipedia article on the hall, give 28 June as the first concert. The State Library of Queensland account has the band landing only after midnight on 29 June, so the shows were on 29 and 30 June.

What stands there now

Festival Hall closed in 2003 and was knocked down. The developer Devine Limited put up Festival Towers, an apartment building finished in 2006, on the corner of Albert and Charlotte streets.

No Beatles plaque marks the corner. Inside the Festival Towers entry lobby is a Walk of Fame display by the Queensland Performing Arts Centre's museum. It has backlit panels, photographs of performers and seatbacks saved from the old hall. Accounts of it do not say whether the Beatles appear, and the lobby belongs to a residential building.

The same tour stopped earlier in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, and crossed to New Zealand for concerts including Auckland Town Hall.