Etched in the memory of Beatles fans in Devon is when the Fab Four caused hysteria in Exeter when they performed at Exeter’s ABC theatre on Thursday, November 14, 1963. On the 60th anniversary of the legendary gig, one fan who was lucky enough to get tickets has recalled how it was the day after he particularly remembers due to a chance encounter along the streets of Exeter with John Lennon.
Martin Reid says he saw the singer in the morning at about 9am walking by the Grade II listed Black Horse, back then a hotel, still dressed in his stage outfit looking 'pleased with himself'. However, he was said to have then seemed embarrassed once he realised he had been recognised.
Martin, 81, who now lives in Newport, recalled: "I was walking along Longbrook Street and I saw this figure walking alone on the other side of the road by the Black Horse when it was a proper hotel, and I realised it was John Lennon. He was still wearing his stage outfit and pointy shoes.
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"He was looking miles away and seemed quite pleased with himself. I didn't say anything to him, obviously, but he suddenly realised he was being watched.
"You could almost see him shrink inside himself. He looked a little bit dishevelled so I think he must have got lucky that night and that's why he was never seen going back to The Royal Clarence which is where they were said to be staying. There was no emergency exit and just one way in and out.
"People were guessing he had been smuggled in, but I know the answer! I actually felt a bit sorry for him when he realised I had recognised him. He then disappeared into the newsagents by the Black Horse. I didn't see him again after that but I assume he must have stayed close by there that night."
Back in 1963, the Beatles' single She Loves You was at number two in the hit parade and their debut album Please Please Me had been number one in the charts for 29 weeks. It was not their first visit to the ABC.
Eight months earlier, the young Liverpool four-piece had performed at the same venue for the first time, down the bill from headlining US star Chris Montez (Let’s Dance). On August 18 the same year, they headlined at Torquay’s Princess Theatre, billed on the advertising poster as “Britain’s Fabulous Disc Stars” The Beatles, on a line-up with fellow Liverpudlians The Fourmost, the Kestrels and compere Bob Bain.
It had been touch and go whether they would be able to perform at all on in Exeter on November 14, 1963. The Portsmouth show two nights earlier had been cancelled when Paul McCartney was taken ill with a gastric bug. But they’d pulled off a storming show in Plymouth the day before and the lucky crowd that had grabbed tickets for the Exeter show were in for a treat.
The other acts on the bill were the Kestrels, Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers, the Vernon Girls and comedian Frank Berry.
Martin said: "I was very, very lucky as I got the last four seats together and it was four rows from the front. They cost twelve shillings and sixpence.
"I went with my girlfriend Margaret, who later became my wife, and a couple of her friends. I was not a huge Beatles fan but I liked them and I very much enjoyed the concert.
"We were sitting so close to them and all the screaming was behind us so we could actually hear their voices. They were very, very good indeed.
"The atmosphere was absolutely amazing. They were the last act, of course, and there had been a comedian on before who couldn't make himself heard because of the screaming for the Beatles."
