June 12, 1964 - It’s those Beatles again! Huge crowds jammed the wide main street outside the Town Hall in Adelaide, South Australia, today, ready to give the boys a welcome that was fantastic, even for them.
More than 100,000 screaming hysterical fans lined the six-mile route from the airport to Town Hall. Beatle George Harrison gasped: “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
A few hours later, the Beatles’ first concert in Adelaide was interrupted by a near-riot when frenzied teenagers rushed the stage.
Battling police rushed in to hold back frantic fans as the Beatles were about to begin their third encore, “Twist and Shout.”
Adelaide is normally regarded as Australia’s most staid and conservative city. But it went wild over Paul, John, George, and drummer Jimmy Nicol, stand-in for Ringo.
Not all the adulation came from teenagers. At least half the crowd of 25,000 outside the Town Hall were adults.
The screaming mob broke through barriers as the Beatles’ car appeared. Two girls were trampled underfoot, and a 60-year-old woman collapsed. Even highly trained police horses kicked out in fear.
Tears streamed down the faces of girls. One of them ran around in circles crying and waving her arms. Police held her while she screamed, “Beatles! Beatles! They’re here!”
An ambulance officer rushed to another girl crying hysterically, her hands covering her face.
He shook her and asked: “What’s wrong?”
“I’m so happy!” she screamed — and burst into tears again.
Police formed a solid pack around the Beatles and rushed them from their car into the Town Hall. John Lennon said it was the biggest welcome they had been given anywhere in the world.
Someone told him there were a million people in South Australia. “They must all be here!” he said.
Ringo, just recovered from tonsillitis, flew from London to San Francisco yesterday on his way to join the group in Australia. He forgot his passport — but was allowed to leave. The passport will be sent on.
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