The Beatles at K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, 4 June 1964

K.B. Hallen is a concert and sports hall at Peter Bangs Vej 147 in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen. On 4 June 1964 the Beatles gave two shows there, their only concerts in Denmark, with Jimmie Nicol replacing a sick Ringo Starr. The 1938 hall burned down in 2011. A new hall stands on the site, and it has no Beatles marker.

The hall they played is gone

The first K.B. Hallen opened on 22 April 1938. Hans Hansen designed it for the football club Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, King Christian X opened it, and Poul Henningsen made its lamps. The building had only just been listed as protected when, early on 28 September 2011, a halogen lamp set fire to cardboard and the hall was destroyed.

Demolition started on 20 February 2015. The new K.B. Hallen, by Christensen & Co Arkitekter, keeps the arched shape and the logo of the old one but is a new building, with room for 4,500 people or 4,950 for concerts. Crown Prince Frederik inaugurated it in December 2018. Visitors today see that hall, on the same plot.

Jimmie Nicol's first night

Ringo Starr was in hospital with tonsillitis when the 1964 world tour began, so Jimmie Nicol took over the drums. Copenhagen was his first concert with the Beatles, about 27 hours after he was brought in.

The Beatles landed at Kastrup at 13:20 to a crowd of about 3,000 fans. At the SAS Royal Hotel the crowds were so thick that they went in through the kitchen, and police put up barriers in the street.

Two shows, 4,400 tickets

Gaffa reports 4,400 tickets sold at 15 to 50 kroner. The Hitmakers, the Beethovens and the Weedons opened. The times differ between sources: Gaffa gives 18:30 and 21:00, while the Danish fan archive fabfour.dk gives 18:00 and 21:30, noting that police wanted a long gap between the shows to clear the street. The Beatles played 9 songs at the first show and 10 at the second.

The Hitmakers had Long Tall Sally in their set. After the first show McCartney asked them to leave it out, because the Beatles were about to release it as a single in Scandinavia.

The band left on an SAS flight at 11:30 the next morning; the tour's next stop was the Netherlands, where the sites include Treslong in Hillegom. The Beatles never came back to Denmark as a group, but McCartney returned to K.B. Hallen in 1972 for his first Danish solo concert.

Nothing on the new hall marks the Beatles

No Beatles plaque or marker is recorded at K.B. Hallen, and the venue's own history page mentions the 1964 concerts without referring to one. The other Beatles-related record in Denmark is the Homage to John Lennon in Odense.