HOW MANY OTHER rock ’n’ roll bands require armoured car transportation to get to Maple Leaf Gardens?
With Paul McCartney back in town for a rare concert appearance, it is a fine time to remember the heyday of Beatlemania in Toronto.
It was Sept. 7, 1964, when Paul, John, Ringo and George arrived in Toronto for their first concert appearance before more than 35,000 mostly screaming teenage girls at Maple Leaf Gardens.
“The audience is fantastic,” said Paul McCartney in a famous CBC interview.
The band stayed at the King Edward Hotel while in town, boarding the armoured car that whisked them past the 3,000 fans that swarmed the streets and the hotel lobby.
And you thought the G20 leaders required serious police protection? There was a massive containment fence erected at the airport to keep thousands of teenagers back as the four Brits left an airport hangar to board an Air Canada jet, giving their famous turn and wave before boarding their flight to Montreal.
The band played Toronto on each of its three North American tours in ’64 and on Aug. 17 in 1965 and the same day one year later when they played two shows.
Paul McCartney plays the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Aug. 8 and 9, though screaming teenagers are unlikely.