“Lost” Beatles Concert to Receive Limited Screening

Rare footage of The Beatles’ first full U.S. concert, lost for 48 years, will receive a limited screening in the U.S., beginning with a May 6th premiere at Ziegfield Theater in New York. The concert took place at the Washington Coliseum on February 11th, 1964 — just two days after The Beatles’ famed first Ed Sullivan appearance.

The 12-song set runs around 30 minutes and features early Beatles hits like “She Loves You” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” This concert footage will be screened as part of a documentary called The Beatles: The Lost Concert. The first part of the 92 minute documentary focuses on Beatlemania in America, so to get to the actual concert footage, audiences will have to sit through a documentary about Beatlemania about twice as long as the actual concert footage.

While this portion of the film includes an interview with rock legend Chuck Berry, there is also commentary from the insufferable human herpes sore known as Steven Tyler, as well as musicians who were born long after The Beatles’ breakup, like Mark Ronson and members of The Strokes.

Screenvision, who are the company behind the new documentary, claim that the original master tapes have been restored and remastered. Presumably though they were less successful at making the actual songs audible over the hoards of screaming teenage girls. Problems aside, the film could serve as an important educational piece for America’s youth, many of whom don’t even know who Paul McCartney is.

One question raised by the recent re-discovery of the footage is how exactly it was lost in the first place. The original concert was broadcast to two million cinema goers in March of 1964. How did such culturally important footage just disappear? Surely someone realized that this historic event might be worth preserving. Though that question will likely go unanswered, Beatles fans across the country will undoubtedly be excited for the new footage. Following the documentary’s debut in New York on May 6th it will be shown in select theaters across America on May 17th and 22nd.

Image: Absolute Elsewhere

Comments