“The door of the dressing room opened a few inches and a face peered out.‘Wrexham Leader’,I said.'Come in lad’ said the face, and yelled back in the room 'Press!’ A hand was pushed into mine and John Lennon, the leader of the Beatles, introduced me to the other members of the group.'Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, sit down, if you can find a seat.’ […] I was with the boys for about two hours and when the time came for them to do their act, I went ahead to take a look at crowd. The minute Paul and John came out of the door to the stage, the place was filled with screams as hundreds of girls clamoured forward. The screams were carried on through the hour they were on stage.Then exhausted, the Beatles signed autographs for the fans. 'We’d like to come back to Mold,’ said John, 'but I don’t know if they will want us back.’ If the committee and fans of the Mold Assembly Hall have any say, the Beatles will be asked back…but soon!.“ [David Sandison, Wrexham Leader, 29th January 1963]
Photographs taken during the Beatles two hour interview with David Sandison of the Wrexham Leader local newspaper ahead of their concert at the Assembly Hall in Mold, Wales on the 24th January 1963. Interviews were still something of a novelty to the boys at the time and the marathon two hour session was practically unheard of (potentially their first of this length?) Despite their positivity the Beatles had agreed to the booking in October 1962 and for only a £50 fee (much less than they were currently charging). They were reluctant to do it, but Brian Epstein always made sure to honour their agreements.
After the gig, George went to visit an auntie who lived near by, while John, Paul and Ringo went to a pub with two girls from the show - daughters of the landlady there, who got out of bed to make them sandwiches (and charged them 30 shillings to do so). Paul played the piano at the pub for around half an hour. It was the Beatles only appearance in Mold.
Pics: Bottom two photos, Mike McCartney, possibly top two photos too.
