The Beatles Down Under
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12th June 1964, The Beatles arrived in Adelaide, Australia and were greeted by an estimated 250,000 fans, (the biggest welcome the band would ever receive), who lined the ten mile route from the airport to the city centre. Temporary member Jimmy Nicol was standing in for Ringo on drums who was recovering from having his tonsils removed. More here http//www.thisdayinmusic.com/pages/the_beatles_down_under
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I always heard it was 300 000 (maybe even 350 000) which was about half the population of Adelaide back then. Amazing !!! Adelaide was originally not even on the tour schedule but a campaign and a petition was organised by local radio and it was added on to the beginning of the tour.
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As much as I feel proud that Adelaide holds the unofficial record for the crowd that greeted The Beatles, I must say I've always been skeptical about the 300,000 figure. Seems like it was a bit of a media exaggeration to me. Hard to believe it was 50 years ago! I was three!
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I accidentally/inadvertently caught the special on ABC (not the US network).... had no idea it was on, stumbled on to it.... it was wonderful to watch. My Mum was one of the crazies at the Southern Cross in Melbourne in 1964... hence, the baton getting passed on to me... the whole Adelaide thing was great.... It was a great tribute, this. And a lot of interesting stuff...
