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Home News Beatlemania: the enduring legacy of the Beatles’ tour of Australia, 60 years on

Beatlemania: the enduring legacy of the Beatles’ tour of Australia, 60 years on

The Beatles spent almost three weeks in Australia and New Zealand. Touching down in a wet and cold Sydney on Thursday, 11 June 1964, they played 32 concerts in eight cities: first Adelaide (where drummer Ringo Starr, suffering from tonsillitis and pharyngitis, was replaced by Jimmie Nicol), then Melbourne (with Starr again), Sydney, Wellington, Auckland, Dunedin, Christchurch and two final shows in Brisbane on 29 and 30 June.

Charming and irreverent as they were, The Beatles themselves were only part of the reason the tour was so memorable.

It was the hordes of screaming fans who followed their every move that astonished onlookers.

The rise of Beatlemania

By 1964, Australian teenagers had access to a global youth culture. As the feminist author Anne Summers, then an Adelaide teenager, recalled in her memoir Ducks on the Pond :

It was rare for world-famous pop stars to come to Adelaide and unheard of for a group at the height of their celebrity.

That Australian teenagers had the opportunity to see The Beatles in person in 1964 was due to a stroke of luck for tour promoter Kenn Brodziak . In late 1963, Brodziak secured the then up-and-coming Beatles for a three-week tour of Australia at a bargain rate.

By the time the tour took place, The Beatles was the biggest band in the world.

Their popularity had skyrocketed throughout 1964. I Want To Hold Your Hand went to number one on the Australian charts in mid-January and the top six singles that year were all by The Beatles .

So when the band arrived here, Beatlemania was the predictable result: crowds of surging, screaming young people, who turned out in massive numbers wherever The Beatles appeared.

While the earliest rock ‘n’ roll fans (and even performers) in the late 1950s were often labelled juvenile delinquents , there were too many teenagers swept up in Beatlemania for them to be dismissed in the same way. The crowds became a spectacle in themselves.

‘A chanting mass of humanity’

Beatlemaniacs were loud and unruly. The Daily Telegraph reported:

50,000 screaming, chanting, struggling teenagers crowded outside Melbourne’s Southern Cross Hotel this afternoon to give The Beatles the wildest reception of their careers.

It was a similar story in Adelaide. The Advertiser described:

police, their arms locked together and forming a tight circle around the car carrying the Beatles, had to force a path through the surging, screaming crowd […] Police said they had never seen anything like it.

The crowds overwhelmed observers with their sheer size – a “solid, swaying, chanting mass of humanity”, according to The Age – and noise. The Daily Telegraph consulted an acoustics expert to conclude “Beatles fans scream like [a] jet in flight”.

Beatlemania was visible (and noisy) evidence of a growing teenage consumer market and the assimilation of rock music, dancing and youth culture into the leisure practices of middle-class youth. It was proof (if anyone still needed it) the youth market was highly developed and extremely lucrative.

The speed with which companies found a ready audience for Beatles merchandise (wigs, souvenirs, magazines) demonstrated the relative affluence of the youthful consumer in mid-1960s Australia. This market would continue to grow throughout the decade.

A new idea of youth

Perhaps the most remarkable characteristic of Beatlemania was its femaleness. While not all Beatles fans were girls, it was the crying, screaming girls who attracted the most media comment.

The Daily Telegraph described them this way:

It was the girls, the nymphets of 1964 in their uniform of black slacks and duffle coats and purple sweaters – who showed the orgiastic devotion due to the young men from the damp and foggy dead end of England […] the girls wept, screamed, grimaced, fainted, fell over, threw things, stamped, jumped and shouted […] [The Beatles] were the high priests of pop culture, taking due homage from a captive, hypnotised hysterical congregation.

The references to “nymphets” with their “orgiastic devotion” tells us many Australians thought these young women were transgressing the norms expected for their era. Young women in the early 1960s were still expected to be demure and responsible. Beatles fans were breaking these rules, and helping to rewrite the meanings of youth and gender in 1960s Australia.

Beatlemania was an expression of female desire. The Beatles were powerful objects of fantasy for many fans in a world where sexual mores were slowly changing but where women were still expected to police male desire, stopping young men from “going too far”. A fantasy relationship with a Beatle became a way for young women to dream about their ideal relationship.

Screaming, chasing a Beatle down the street: these were acts of rebellion and joy that prefigured the rise of women’s liberation, with its embrace of rebellious femininity.

Beatlemania reminds us that, even if women were not always behind the microphone or playing the guitar, they have been important to the history of rock ‘n’ roll music as fans and audience members.

Beatlemania marked the ascendancy of a new idea of youth: these young people weren’t mere replicas of their parents, but they were not juvenile delinquents, either. The Beatles tour drew young Australians more closely into a transnational youth culture, fostering the development of a distinctively Australian variant here.

Michelle Arrow is a Professor of History at Macquarie University .

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

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‘Screaming, chanting, struggling teenagers’: the enduring legacy of the Beatles tour of Australia, 60 years on

Professor of History, Macquarie University

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Michelle Arrow receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

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The Beatles began their first and only tour of Australia 60 years ago this week. It remains a landmark event in our social and cultural history.

The Beatles spent almost three weeks in Australia and New Zealand. Touching down in a wet and cold Sydney on Thursday June 11 1964, they played 32 concerts in eight cities: first Adelaide (where drummer Ringo Starr, suffering from tonsillitis and pharyngitis, was replaced by Jimmie Nicol), then Melbourne (with Starr again), Sydney, Wellington, Auckland, Dunedin, Christchurch and two final shows in Brisbane on June 29 and 30.

Charming and irreverent as they were, The Beatles themselves were only part of the reason the tour was so memorable.

It was the hordes of screaming fans who followed their every move that astonished onlookers.

The rise of Beatlemania

By 1964, Australian teenagers had access to a global youth culture. As the feminist author Anne Summers, then an Adelaide teenager, recalled in her memoir Ducks on the Pond:

It was rare for world-famous pop stars to come to Adelaide and unheard of for a group at the height of their celebrity.

That Australian teenagers had the opportunity to see The Beatles in person in 1964 was due to a stroke of luck for tour promoter Kenn Brodziak . In late 1963, Brodziak secured the then up-and-coming Beatles for a three-week tour of Australia at a bargain rate.

By the time the tour took place, the Beatles were the biggest band in the world.

Their popularity had skyrocketed throughout 1964. I Want To Hold Your Hand went to number one on the Australian charts in mid-January and the top six singles that year were all by The Beatles .

So when the band arrived here, Beatlemania was the predictable result: crowds of surging, screaming young people, who turned out in massive numbers wherever the Beatles appeared.

While the earliest rock ‘n’ roll fans (and even performers) in the late 1950s were often labelled juvenile delinquents , there were too many teenagers swept up in Beatlemania for them to be dismissed in the same way. The crowds became a spectacle in themselves.

‘A chanting mass of humanity’

Beatlemaniacs were loud and unruly. The Daily Telegraph reported:

50,000 screaming, chanting, struggling teenagers crowded outside Melbourne’s Southern Cross Hotel this afternoon to give the Beatles the wildest reception of their careers.

It was a similar story in Adelaide. The Advertiser described:

police, their arms locked together and forming a tight circle around the car carrying the Beatles, had to force a path through the surging, screaming crowd […] Police said they had never seen anything like it.

The crowds overwhelmed observers with their sheer size – a “solid, swaying, chanting mass of humanity”, according to The Age – and noise. The Daily Telegraph consulted an acoustics expert to conclude “Beatles fans scream like [a] jet in flight”.

Beatlemania was visible (and noisy) evidence of a growing teenage consumer market and the assimilation of rock music, dancing and youth culture into the leisure practices of middle-class youth. It was proof (if anyone still needed it) the youth market was highly developed and extremely lucrative.

The speed with which companies found a ready audience for Beatles merchandise (wigs, souvenirs, magazines) demonstrated the relative affluence of the youthful consumer in mid-1960s Australia. This market would continue to grow throughout the decade.

A new idea of youth

Perhaps the most remarkable characteristic of Beatlemania was its femaleness. While not all Beatles fans were girls, it was the crying, screaming girls who attracted the most media comment.

The Daily Telegraph described them this way:

It was the girls, the nymphets of 1964 in their uniform of black slacks and duffle coats and purple sweaters – who showed the orgiastic devotion due to the young men from the damp and foggy dead end of England […] the girls wept, screamed, grimaced, fainted, fell over, threw things, stamped, jumped and shouted […] [The Beatles] were the high priests of pop culture, taking due homage from a captive, hypnotised hysterical congregation.

The references to “nymphets” with their “orgiastic devotion” tells us many Australians thought these young women were transgressing the norms expected for their era. Young women in the early 1960s were still expected to be demure and responsible. Beatles fans were breaking these rules, and helping to rewrite the meanings of youth and gender in 1960s Australia.

Beatlemania was an expression of female desire. The Beatles were powerful objects of fantasy for many fans in a world where sexual mores were slowly changing but where women were still expected to police male desire, stopping young men from “going too far”. A fantasy relationship with a Beatle became a way for young women to dream about their ideal relationship.

Screaming, chasing a Beatle down the street: these were acts of rebellion and joy that prefigured the rise of women’s liberation, with its embrace of rebellious femininity.

Beatlemania reminds us that, even if women were not always behind the microphone or playing the guitar, they have been important to the history of rock ‘n’ roll music as fans and audience members.

Beatlemania marked the ascendancy of a new idea of youth: these young people weren’t mere replicas of their parents, but they were not juvenile delinquents, either. The Beatles tour drew young Australians more closely into a transnational youth culture, fostering the development of a distinctively Australian variant here.

Beatlemania also demonstrated the massed power of youth. By the end of the 1960s, many Australian teenagers were gathering on the streets to protest, rather than celebrate, and to make political demands, rather than to scream.

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• The Beatles
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Program: The Beatles in Australia

Source: ABC RN | Program: The Music Show

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Sixty years ago The Fab Four toured Australia for the first and only time. Greg Armstrong  is the co-author of When We Was Fab - Inside The Beatles' Australasian Tour 1964.  He takes us behind the scenes of what happened— the promoters who lucked out by booking the band before they exploded in popularity, the late inclusion of the Adelaide shows, the band's unprecedented reception in the streets, and how Australia's music scene was left permanently changed when it was all over. 

Our thanks to all of the listeners who got in touch with us about their memories of the 1964 Australian tour. In this episode we hear from Gillian, Maggie, Jane, Paul, Robert, Geoff, Geraldine, Dianne, Pauline and Chris.

Music heard in the show:

Title: It Won't Be Long Artist: The Beatles Composer: Lennon-McCartney Album: With The Beatles Label: Parlophone PMCO 1206

Title: I Want To Hold Your Hand Artist: The Beatles Composer: Lennon-McCartney Album:  (Single) Label: Parlophone A8103

Title: Misery Artist: The Beatles Composer: Lennon-McCartney Album:  Please Please Me Label: Parlophone PMCO 1202

Title: Roll Over Beethoven Artist: The Beatles Composer: Chuck Berry Album:  With The Beatles Label: Parlophone PMCO 1206

Title: Can't Buy Me Love (Live in Melbourne 1964) Artist: The Beatles Composer: Lennon-McCartney ABC Recording

Title: (Let's Have A) Party Artist: Johnny Chester Composer: Jessie Mae Robinson Album:  Rocker 1961-1966 Label: ScreenSound Australia CD/SSA/3C0026

Title: Long Tall Sally Artist: The Beatles Composer: Enotris Johnson, Robert Blackwell, Richard Penniman Album:  (Single) Label: Parlophone GEP 8913

Title: She Loves You Artist: The Beatles Composer: Lennon-McCartney Album:  (Single) Label: Parlophone A8093

Title: Lotus Artist: The Twilights Composer: Terry Britten Album:  The Way They Played Label: Raven Records RVCD-364

Title: Twist And Shout (Live in Melbourne 1964) Artist: The Beatles Composer: Bert Berns, Phil Medley ABC Recording

The Music Show is made on Gadigal and Gundungurra Country.

Technical production by Simon Branthwaite

• Andrew Ford, Presenter
• Ellie Parnell, Producer
• Bec Cushway, Producer
• Ce Benedict, Producer

Image Details

Workers and school children mob the car carrying British pop sensation The Beatles from Adelaide airport during their Australian tour.  ( Keystone/Getty Images )

Australia got a Beatles tour in 1964 — it could easily have been Gerry and the Pacemakers instead

The Beatles — the early years

The Fab One Two Three Four, and big songs from small islands across the Indo-Pacific

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ANDY NEILL & GREG ARMSTRONG INTERVIEW: WHEN WE WAS FAB – INSIDE THE BEATLES AUSTRALASIAN TOUR 1964

• Greg Phillips
• June 10, 2024
• Features , Interviews

On this day 60 years ago (June 11, 1964), Beatlemania hit   Australia when the fab four landed at Sydney’s Mascot airport to begin their tour of Australia and New Zealand, thrilling music fans and inspiring a legion of musicians.

To celebrate the occasion, authors Andy Neill and Greg Armstrong have released a fantastic 300 page book titled, When We Was Fab: Inside The Beatles Australasian Tour 1964  by   – the definitive and deluxe account of the Fab Four’s Australian tour.

An LP-size hardback book of over 300 pages, lavishly illustrated with more than 500 photos and based on decades of research by two internationally-recognised Beatles experts, When We Was Fab: Inside The Beatles Australasian Tour 1964 is in stores now.

Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips had the pleasure of chatting with Andy Neill and Greg Armstrong, authors of When We Was Fab: Inside The Beatles Australasian Tour 1964, sixty years on from The Beatles arrival in Australia

More about When We Was Fab: Inside The Beatles Australasian Tour 1964 The importance of the Beatles’ Australian tour remains deeply significant, not only in the memories of baby boomers who lived through it, but also to today’s millennials who wish they had.  It remains as one of the rare “where-were-you-when-it-happened?” moments for Australians of a certain age, and not just because of the music. The Beatles’ two weeks in Australia were marked by the sorts of massive crowds and mass adulation that have never truly been surpassed.

Scenes of the band disembarking at Sydney airport in the rain and greeting the crowds in the packed Melbourne city centre in front of the Town Hall balcony are indelibly marked into the national psyche.  In staid Adelaide, a staggering 300,000 people lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the world’s pop heroes. That welcome is officially acknowledged as the largest ever crowd to welcome the Fab Four.

More than all that, the tour continues to be celebrated as a major landmark in the growth of the nation and an extraordinary cultural turning point, a coming of age for our country and a huge and lasting step in the advancing development of our youth and arts culture. It set the stage in Australia for the remainder of the ’60s as well as the first half of the ’70s, and it remains a major highlight of the Beatles’ remarkable career. And a unique one, given not only the unprecedented mania, but Ringo’s unavailability for the beginning of the trip –  which led to the temporary drafting of unknown drummer Jimmie Nicol – and the fact that the Beatles themselves made very little income out of the tour, given their agreement with Australian promoter Kenn Brodziak was made before Beatlemania really took hold anywhere.

The 60th Anniversary of the tour follows last year’s hugely successful and newsworthy Australian tour by Paul McCartney, the end of which coincided with a new Beatles single “Now and Then”. All of this of course followed the record-breaking release of Peter Jackson’s acclaimed The Beatles: Get Back series, which was one of the most-watched television events of 2021. The Beatles remain a ubiquitous presence.

Written and compiled by UK-based New Zealander Andy Neill (whose previous work has included acclaimed books on The Who and Rod Stewart & The Faces) and Melbourne-based Beatles expert Greg Armstrong (co-host of the world’s longest-running Beatles radio show), When We Was Fab: Inside The Beatles Australasian Tour 1964 is the definitive account of this most extraordinary cultural turning point. It tells the story in unprecedented detail, with lavish, eye-popping illustration – using hundreds of evocative and mostly never-before seen images, including original documents, press clippings, vintage memorabilia and hundreds of unpublished photographs – and is beautifully designed.

Based entirely on exhaustive first-hand research spanning two decades, When We Was Fab: Inside The Beatles Australasian Tour 1964 is authoritatively written by experts on the subject. The authors’ process involved sourcing hundreds of original newspapers, magazines and business documents as well as first-hand interviews with over 100 key participants – many of whom have not previously shared their memories – including promoters, support acts, press and radio personalities, as well as original fans who came out in their thousands to see the Beatles. As a result, a vast amount of new information behind those extraordinary weeks appears for the first time, correcting many ‘facts’ misreported for six decades. It really will be the last – and lasting – word.

The world continues to love and enjoy the Beatles. Their music resonates with each new generation. As has occurred with past celebrations of the tour, the 60th anniversary in June 2024 is certain to raise significant interest around Australia, and When We Was Fab: Inside The Beatles Australasian Tour 1964 is the brim-filled, ready-made one-stop-shop for stories and images relating to those wild few weeks.

The Beatles’ landed in Australia at Sydney’s Mascot airport just before 7:45am on Thursday 11 June 1964. Their Australian tour consisted of 20 concerts. There were two shows performed each playing day, at 6pm and 8.45pm, as follows:

Adelaide (4 concerts) – Friday 12 June and Saturday 13 June Melbourne (6 concerts) – Monday 15 June, Tuesday 16 June, Wednesday 17 June Sydney (6 concerts) – Thursday 18 June, Friday 19 June, Saturday 20 June Brisbane (4 concerts) – Monday 29 June, Tuesday 30 June

About the authors: Andy Neill  is a UK-based music writer, researcher and historian, born in New Zealand. He co-wrote the best-selling, illustrated authorised biography, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle Of The Who (Friedman/Fairfax, 2002). Additionally, he compiled and annotated two Beatles photo anthologies, Across The Universe: The Beatles On Tour And On Stage (Haynes Publishing, 2009) from the British Daily Mirror’s photo archive, and Looking Through You: Rare And Unseen Photographs From The Beatles Book Monthly Archive (Omnibus Press, 2015). He is the author of an acclaimed biography, Had Me A Real Good Time about the lives and careers of Rod Stewart and the Faces (Omnibus Press, 2011). His most recent book was the warmly received chronicle of the pioneering 1960’s UK TV pop music programme Ready, Steady, Go! The Weekend Starts Here (BMG, 2020).

Andy has compiled and/or contributed extensive liner notes for archival reissues, including the back catalogue of the Who and the Kinks. He has been consultant, editor and archive producer on numerous best-selling music biographies and documentaries. His music writing has appeared in magazines including Record Collector, Mojo and Ugly Things.

Greg Armstrong  is a Melbourne-born and based radio presenter, researcher and Beatles historian. He is a co-presenter on Australia’s Let It Be Beatles radio programme (LIBB), the world’s longest running, weekly live radio show dedicated to the Beatles, on Melbourne’s 88.9 WynFM, streaming live with a global listener base. The show is now in its 32nd continuous year live on air, having broadcast over 1,450 episodes. He maintains strong connections administering the LIBB Facebook group and Blogspot.

Greg has made numerous appearances on radio and television programmes, been interviewed about the Beatles’ Australian tour (multiple times by ABC radio), provided Beatles historical expertise (The Auction Room, ABC TV) and regular special guest appearances on various radio shows. He was also archival consultant to the widely acclaimed Beatles’ Australian tour 40th anniversary multimedia theatre shows and has contributed to a number of Beatles features in Australian and worldwide newspapers and magazines.

www.facebook.com/AussieFab

When We Was Fab: Inside The Beatles Australasian Tour 1964 by Andy Neill and Greg Armstrong is published June 1, 2024 by Woodslane Press. When We Was Fab (woodslanepress.com.au)

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The Beatles arrive in Australia

The Beatles flew from Hong Kong to Sydney, stopping en route in Darwin to allow their aeroplane to refuel. Although it was an unscheduled stop, 400 fans were waiting as they landed in Darwin at 2.35am.

None of us slept on the flight to Australia. There were reports of impossible weather on the eastern seaboard and as we flew on into the night, over the maddened sea and through the storm-crazed sky, I trusted in my purple prose and Their invincibility to get us there intact. We made a refuelling stop in Darwin, just in case we had to divert from Sydney (for the fans, God forbid such a necessity); but despite the short notice, the word was out and there was a good-sized crowd awaiting us when we landed. The Darwin welcome was, for me, compensation for the disappointment we had caused at the earlier, scheduled stops on the flight from England. It is more blessed to give than to deprive, and at Darwin The Beatles certainly gave. They were, like the rest of us, genuinely excited; this was a long, long way from home – indeed, from anywhere. Australia! Euphony in the name; splendour and romance. What did we know of this unimaginably large island-dominion? Precious little. I have an imperfect memory of the short time we spent in the Darwin airport buildings; large windows, a balcony; darkness, cheering fans, a lot of good-natured babble into tape-recorders; a talkative John, full of fun, pushing and shoving his friends like a schoolboy in a bus queue.

A crowd of around 2,000 greeted the band at Sydney’s Mascot International Airport.

The storm at Sydney airport was beyond belief. I had not known rain like it and of course like all sudden unexpected acts of violence, it was a shock to our systems. In all of our mental pictures, the arrival in Australia, the magical descent from the aircraft, now an expected and famously framed aspect of The Madness, the first sight of the Four Heads had not been imagined in rain . No, in the mind’s eye it had been sunny, dry, warm and gentle with scarves and flags waving in the light breeze… The Beatles said there would be no chance of leaving the plane in such weather. The plane touched down, sending huge rippling waves down the runway. We were, now, finally in Australia. Somewhere behind the pounding of the rain and the roar of the engines in reverse there was another sort of noise. A high relentless scream. A scream which went on and on. The fans. Five thousand of them. Drenched, bruised and battered by the rain, taut and jumpy with anticipation, herded by the police. But still there, screaming and still loyal.

Although it was cold and raining heavily, The Beatles were paraded for the crowd on the back of an open-top truck.

When we arrived in Sydney it was pissing down with rain. We got off the plane and they put The Beatles on the back of a flat-back truck so the crowd could see them. They were carrying umbrellas and wearing the capes made in Hong Kong. The driver was doing one mile an hour, and John kept leaning over and saying, ‘Faster, faster!’ but he wouldn’t go any faster. I was saying, ‘Go faster – it’s pouring down,’ and he said, ‘These kids have been waiting here for twenty-four hours to see these guys.’ Nothing was going to make this big Australian trucker go any faster. By the time they got to the hotel everybody was blue because the dye in the capes had run and soaked right through; they all looked like old Celtic warriors covered in blue dye.

Alarmingly, a woman ran to the truck and threw her six-year-old mentally-handicapped child at The Beatles, shouting, “Catch him, Paul,” in the hope that The Beatles could provide a cure. Fortunately, McCartney did catch the terrified boy, who was reunited with his mother as soon as the truck could be stopped.

Following the airport parade The Beatles went through customs and immigrations procedures, and spoke to the press.

The Beatles’ hotel, the Sheraton, was in Potts Point, Sydney. They had been turned down by the nearby Chevron-Hilton due to concerns about crowd control. Their manager, Brian Epstein , however, did stay at the Chevron.

The Chevron Hilton Hotel in Sydney wouldn’t let us in because they didn’t want all the fuss, so we had to stay at the one across the street. However, they got the crowds standing in front of their hotel, all looking across to ours, and so they had the same sort of trouble anyway.

The band’s luggage arrived later but John Lennon and Paul McCartney had spare clothes to change into, with Lennon borrowing a pair of trousers from press officer Derek Taylor. George Harrison waved to fans from the balcony dressed in just a bath towel.

I used to hate waving from balconies. ‘Wave,’ they’d say. ‘You’ve got to go and wave.’ Derek used to wave for me out of hotel windows.

Although they were unable to leave their hotel, in the evening The Beatles gave a series of interviews, press conferences and photography sessions, and met a number of concert promoters and local dignitaries.

The Sydney press conference gave us a very good start in Australia. The weightier communicators were approving, and the fan-club secretaries were thrilled beyond expectation. Not only were The Boys Fab and Four (Ringo’s absence notwithstanding), they were flesh and blood, funny and nice and here . I was a contented man. Almost all of the media was giving us a Fab Rap, and that night I celebrated with Scotch and Coke, brandy and soda, buckets of ice and oysters and pills at The Chequers night-club. Neil and Jimmie Nicol came with me – maybe others, too, though not George, John or Paul. Frances Faye, an old jazz heroine, was the cabaret act. On hearing that Nicol was in the house, she had the audience call for him to ‘dep’ on drums’; he was happy to oblige and did a long and very good set. Next day, hung over and tired to the point of exhaustion, I joined the rested Beatles for the flight to Adelaide. It was still raining. There were fans everywhere and it was a relief to board the plane.

Also on this day, Ringo Starr was discharged from University College Hospital, London, allowing him to fly to Australia to rejoin the group.

Also on this day...

Want more? Visit the Beatles history section .

Latest Comments

On that very same day I sailed into Freemantle with my husband and five-year-old son. We knew nothing about the Beatles back then. It was much later that I’ve become their fan.

Beatlemania in Australia

Rianna Goodman

The response to The Beatles’ visit to Australia was intense. Between fainting teenagers, armed guards and Beatles themed food, The Beatles Australian tour is a stunning exploration into Australia’s social environment in 1964. 

Anni Turnbull, Collection Curator at Powerhouse Museum, explains:

'Through 1963 The Beatles gradually built up a following in Australia. By April 1964 they held the first six positions on radio station 2SM's Top 100 chart. When The Beatles finally arrived in Australia in June 1964, 'Beatlemania' had swept the world. The Beatles' 1964 Australian concerts consisted of an eleven-song, half-hour set; there were usually two shows a night.'

Exploring the newspapers available in Trove for 1964 show just how excited, or horrified, the Australian public was about The Beatles visit.

There are many articles discussing the crowds of people turning up to greet The Beatles as they enter and leave each city, and the vast amount of police and guards required. Although, it wasn’t always easy to predict how many officers were needed. One article discusses how ‘ four hundred police turned out at Kingsford-Smith airport this morning as seven fans waited to see The Beatles take off for Adelaide .’

Of course, by the time The Beatles arrived at the airport, the number of fans had ‘ swelled to about 150 ’, some of them airport employees. 

An article titled 'Beatles Fan Fined',  shares the news that a Beatles fan was fined for jumping a barrier when Ringo Starr arrived. He was fined £23, the equivalent of approximately $765 dollars today. 

Not all articles sing The Beatles’ praises. The Canberra Times reported that ‘ the mass hysteria associated with The Beatles represented a loss of human dignity and personality ’ and ‘ more mature teenagers were turning to jazz and folk music… ’.

The Beatles tour was reported widely in Australian community newspapers available in Trove. The Dutch Australian Weekly , for example, published a number or articles about The Beatles. 

The biggest welcome

The reception The Beatles received from Adelaide locals was a step above the rest and it began before the tour even started. Adelaide was not originally on the tour schedule, but Bob Francis from 5AD led a petition that was signed by 80,000 people. He also corresponded with Kenn Brodziak to sing Adelaide’s praises to further convince Kenn to send The Beatles to Adelaide.

Buying tickets was a huge event in Adelaide. A ‘This week in Adelaide’ article , mentions that Adelaide may have reached a world record for Beatlemania. 

Former Treasurer and current Chairperson of the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society (RA&HS Archives), Bob Snewin, was one of the lucky few to receive a ticket for one of the Adelaide shows at Centennial Hall. 

‘When tickets went on sale at John Martins fans slept in the queue (myself included) for 3 and 4 days to purchase tickets. Tickets were priced at one pound one shilling and I obtained a ticket (much to my joy) for the 7pm show on Friday 12 June,’ Bob said.

Tens of thousands were reported to have lined the streets to welcome The Beatles to Adelaide. Some students were given permission to get out of school for the event, while others cut class to be there.  

 Erin Reardon, Museum and Archives Coordinator at RA&HS Archives says:

‘Estimates are that 250,000 to 350,000 people lined the streets from the airport to the Adelaide Town Hall to watch The Beatles drive by in an open top car… This is especially remarkable given that the population of Adelaide at the time was less than 700,000.’ 

The RA&HS Archives holds correspondence of John Martin’s, a department store chain who stepped in to sponsor The Beatles Adelaide visit when conflict over venue hire fees threatened Adelaide’s ability to host the tour. This correspondence discussed the cost of hire and crowd control conditions, including not allowing ‘stomping’ by fans. In one of the Adelaide shows, Paul McCartney asked the fans to show their appreciation by stamping their feet.

Kenn Brodziak, of Aztek Services, was the producer and promoter of the Australian Beatles tour and employed Betty Stweart to manage the publicity and Malcolm Cooke as an assistant tour manager. Kenn was in London in 1963 and signed The Beatles for an Australian tour just before they became a sensation in Germany. 

Arts Centre Melbourne is the custodian of the Australian Performing Arts Collection, including the Kenn Brodziak Beatles Collection and the Betty Stewart Collection. These are large archives from the tour and include correspondence, arrangements with hotels, letters and financial records.  Although they are not yet available on Trove, these documents can be viewed onsite at the Arts Centre Melbourne. 

Claudia Funder, the Research Coordinator of Collections at Arts Centre Melbourne shares some of the highlights they hope to make available in Trove one day. 

Kenn Broziak’s collection contains a variety of letters from people and local governments asking The Beatles to visit their town. The letters were personally responded to by Kenn Broziak or Malcolm Cooke who politely declined the invitations. 

They received several insistent and heartfelt letters from Miss Carol Broderick asking them to come to Tasmania, including a thank you note once the tour ended. In Malcolm’s response to this final letter, he says that, should they bring The Beatles back in 2 or so years, they will include Tasmania on the Tour. 

‘This is a lovely little vignette of responding to a fan and after so many responses in the negative, a little glimpse of hoping they can grant her wish in the future. It is also the only evidence I have found around thoughts of the company doing a second tour,’ says Claudia.

Other letters include questions like ‘ are the tickets on sale yet? ’ and ‘ how do we set up a Beatles fan club? ’ One annoyed parent wrote: ‘ how dare you sell tickets to my underage daughter for this show ’. 

One letter from the Betty Stewart collection reads:

‘Dear Kenn, this letter is being typed at 10pm. It is now impossible to get any desk work done during the day as phone rings continually from 8am and as I am making personal calls on all press to ensure everything is right for “B” day, the day slips away…’

Beatles Memorabilia

Beatlemania consumed Australia and businesses were no exception. A record shop in Sydney created a homemade shop display to promote The Beatles during their tour. This is held at the Powerhouse Museum and Anni Turnbull explains its significance:

‘The suits worn by the figures suggest the display is consistent with this date and a time before 1965 when The Beatles clothing began to change in style. Possibly made by the shop owner and used for the promotion of Beatle records and the Australian Beatle tour in 1964, it’s quite a unique form of product signage, with moving figures powered by a small electric motor.’

There was a diverse range of Beatles merchandise that could be obtained. You could get Beatles broaches, dolls, scarves, mugs, badges, t-shirts and more. 

‘…even the bed linen on which the band members had slept was cut into three-inch squares and sold,’ says Anni.

Beatles wigs were also quite popular, even before the tour. In January, three Australian tennis players were photographed wearing The Beatles wings between matches at the Australian Championships. 

A rare piece of merchandise that was created specifically for the Australian tour was a local Beatles chocolate bearing the image of The Beatles. 

Some fans also got creative. On Wednesday 13 May 1964 The Australian Women’s Weekly published instructions on how to make a ‘Beatles Tea-Towel Blouse’ and provided a variety of Beatles party food for people to try and make. 

‘One of the more “unorthodox” items in our Beatles collection is what is commonly referred to as “The Beatles Urinal.” This urinal was in the green room of Centennial Hall that performers used, meaning hundreds of international stars and thousands of performers would have used this item. None of them, however, were bigger than The Beatles,’ says Erin.

For more information

The Australian Performing Arts Collection at Arts Centre Melbourne can be accessed on request. If you’re in the area, contact the Arts Centre Melbourne Research Centre for more information.

You can find out what other Beatles items the RA&HS Archives has by contacting them through their online form . 

The Powerhouse Museum has a great Beatles collection on Trove and more on their website . They also have a research centre where you can access more information about their collections. 

There is so much to find about The Beatles in Trove . Find more newspaper articles, interviews talking about the Australian tour books and magazines. What can you find? 

• Cast & crew

The Beatles in Australia

Documentary following the 1964 groundbreaking Beatles tour of Australia. Documentary following the 1964 groundbreaking Beatles tour of Australia. Documentary following the 1964 groundbreaking Beatles tour of Australia.

• Warwick Freeman
• George Harrison
• Brian Henderson
• John Lennon

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• June 1964 (Australia)
• Nine Network Australia
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

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The Beatles

John, Paul, George and Ringo – The Beatles – have held a place in the hearts of Australian music fans for decades.

The level of excitement and hysteria that came with Beatlemania, particularly when The Beatles visited Australia in 1964, was unprecedented and the images and newsreels of screaming fans devoted to The Fab Four are well documented.

Lesser known are the stories of some Australians who had the opportunity to work with The Beatles during their rise to fame and in their heyday.

We have included some of those stories in this collection alongside sights and sounds detailing the chaos and commotion of the band's 1964 tour. 

That Mersey Sound: Beatles at the Stadium

This newsreel special of the 1964 Beatles tour captures footage of the band in Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand, concert excerpts and the attendant 'Beatlemania’.

This clip begins with news footage of the Beatles standing on a balcony in Melbourne, waving to fans in the streets below. Paul McCartney plays with a boomerang and laughs with the crowd. The Beatles song 'Love Me Do’ is on the soundtrack while a sequence of Beatles albums, photographs and tabloid headlines are shown. Commentator Ken Sparkes describes the 'Beatlemania’ and the extensive merchandising that has accompanied it. Beatles fans are filmed outside the Sheraton Hotel in Kings Cross along with equally enthusiastic followers of Polish-American piano virtuoso Arthur Rubinstein (1887–1982) who is seen smiling as he is mobbed by the crowds. The Beatles arrive at Wellington Airport in New Zealand. John Lennon plays with a stuffed kiwi and Paul McCartney gives a traditional Maori greeting. Summary by Poppy De Souza

The Beatles leaving Sydney on Sunday 21 June 1964

The news file here depicts the band’s departure from Sydney on Sunday 21 June 1964 for the New Zealand leg of their world tour, showing ’Beatlemania’ in full flight.

Note: parts of this story are silent but there are two segments with sound.

Martin Benge on the Sgt Pepper and Abbey Road albums

Martin Benge, former EMI studio engineer, shares his thoughts on The Beatles’  Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road albums in this oral history excerpt.

The Beatles at Sydney Stadium, 1964

This newsreel features live footage of The Beatles and their fans during a concert in Sydney during their 1964 tour of Australia.

Concert footage of popular acts was still in its infancy in the 1960s. This professionally shot footage is the result of employing multiple cameras and stylish editing in post-production that effectively captures the phenomena known as 'Beatlemania'.

It's very effective in showing the band performing and perhaps more so in showing the reaction of the fans!

Parts of the clip appear to be sped-up because the frame rate has been adjusted by the filmmaker; whether or not this is deliberate is unknown. Studio recordings of several songs – which don't match the images – have been dubbed over the images, presumably because the sound that was captured live was predominantly screaming!

Despite this, it is an important recording of a significant era in popular culture. The scenes in this clip effectively serve to contextualise the pop culture phenomenon of Beatlemania.

Dawn Swane with The Beatles

Never-before-seen footage of The Beatles, getting ready for the special The Music of Lennon & McCartney on 1 November 1965. This clip is silent. The footage was shot by Dawn Swane, an Australian dancer and make-up artist who at the time was working at Granada TV in Manchester.

Dawn says: 'I was in the make-up room. And so we were having some champagne and so we started to, well we were all drinking some champagne. [...] And anyway, I don’t know if it was John or if it was Ringo but they took the camera off me and said, “This is no way to use a camera!" and they sort of jiggled it upside down and inside out a bit, and everybody was just mucking around. But that was great. I mean they were a nice group of people. They really were.'

Dawn's collection of home movies and video recordings have been donated to the NFSA by her daughter, production designer Melinda Doring.

Bendigo record store promotes 'The Beatles Sing For Shell'

Promotion for a television screening on BCV-8 entitled 'The Beatles Sing for Shell'. The TV station used the services of a local record store 'Every's Melody Bar', enlisting them to do this window display for the band's only Australian television appearance. 

The Beatles in Australia

This clip is part of the Cinesound newsreel That Mersey Sound: Beatles at the Stadium , that captured highlights of the Fab Four's 1964 tour of Australia. 

The Beatles interviewed by Binny Lum, 1964

George Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr of The Beatles interviewed by Binny Lum in London, England in 1964.

Dawn Swane holding The Beatles call sheet

Australian dancer and make-up artist, Dawn Swane and the autographed call sheet for  The Music of Lennon & McCartney , 1 and 2 November 1965.

Frank Ifield and the Beatles

In this audio clip from his NFSA Oral History interview, Frank Ifield (1937–2024) recalls the first time he heard about a new group called the Beatles, and why he agreed to give them the chance to perform on his tour.

By 1963, Ifield had already had a massive UK No. 1 hit with 'I Remember You' , recorded in a yodelling country music style in 1962; the song also reached No. 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Ifield’s success with this song was quickly followed by further UK No. 1 singles ‘Lovesick Blues’ (1962) and ‘Wayward Wind’ (1963). He eventually had 16 UK Top 40 hits during his career.

Ifield was born in England to Australian parents. He lived in Australia as a child, where he first learned to play guitar and yodel as well as perform and record music. He moved to the UK in 1959 and his recording career took off soon after.

He returned to Australia in 1988, and was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2007 and received the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2009.

'I Remember You' was added to NFSA's Sounds of Australia in 2017 .

This is an excerpt from an Oral History interview with Ifield conducted by Lorraine Pfitzner for the NFSA in 2005.

How The Beatles forced change at Abbey Road studios

Studio engineer Martin Benge recalls the time that EMI (later Abbey Road) studio manager Alan Stagg turned the power off during a Pink Floyd recording session, because the band was working after the closing time of 10 pm. Following a conversation between Roger Waters spoke and Paul McCartney, the latter decided it was time for a change.

Binny Lum on interviewing The Beatles

Binny Lum talks about her interview with The Beatles in London, 1964. This clip is an excerpt from Binny Lum's oral history interview with Denzil Howson in 1994. 

The full oral history interview can be found here on the NFSA Australia Soundcloud channel .

Brian Epstein, interviewed by Binny Lum (1964)

Australian radio personality Binny Lum talks to manager of The Beatles, Brian Epstein. 

Dawn Swane on working with The Beatles

Make-up artist Dawn Swane records her memories of working with The Beatles in a typed note. 

Martin Benge on The Beatles Anthology

Martin Benge, former EMI studio engineer, shares his thoughts on The Beatles Anthology  (1995) project in this oral history excerpt.

The Beatles in Melbourne

Close-up of The Beatles waving to crowds from the balcony of the Melbourne Town Hall with the Lord Mayor, Edward Leo Curtis, on 16 June 1964.

Fans in Sydney await The Beatles arrival

Beatles fans in Sydney hold up photos and heart-shaped cards that read 'I Love The Beatles' as they wait for the band to arrive at the Sheraton Hotel in Kings Cross.

The Beatles Australian Tour Details

This two-page spread maps out all the stops on The Beatles' tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1964. It appeared in Teenagers Weekly, a supplement to  The Australian Women's Weekly , on 17 June 1964.

(nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48077793)

The Beatles medley: Young Talent Time, 1977

This is a lovely example of the popular music medleys the variety show was known for.

It also highlights the show’s appeal to family members of all ages with a mix of contemporary music alongside classics from the 1960s by artists like The Beatles, The Supremes and Elvis Presley. 

Every episode of Young Talent Time ends with the cast singing ‘ All My Loving ’, so the music of The Beatles is part of the show’s DNA. 

The relatively low production values seen here – from simple costuming and choreography to basic set design – give the show a homespun charm. Nevertheless, the accompaniment from the Young Talent Time band is polished and the singing talent of the performers is obvious. 

The Beatles' songs featured are ‘All You Need Is Love’, ‘Love Me Do’ and ‘She Loves You’, which are all credited to the prolific songwriting partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.  

This is the 6th birthday episode. As was customary for these birthday shows, the cast is joined by special guest stars from the ‘ Young Talent Time family’: Jamie Redfern (1971–72), Derek Redfern (1973–76), Philip Gould (1971–76), Jane Scali (1971–76), Sally Boyden (1973–76), Greg Mills (1971–75), Rod Kirkham (1971–73), Vikki Broughton (1971–73) and Trevor Hindmarch (1972–77). 

It is interesting to see ‘Tiny’ Tina Arena (1977–83) at the very beginning of her highly successful career here. She is the youngest member of the cast and has some trouble with the dance moves at the end of the song. 

The clip also features the rest of the 1977 cast: Karen Knowles (1975–80), Steven Zammit (1975–80), Debbie Hancock (1975–78, 1979), Robert McCullough (1976–79), Nicole Cooper (1976–81) and  Johnny Bowles (1977–81). 

The series ran from 1971 to 1988 with musician host Johnny Young and his team of young performers. This is episode 77/12 and was broadcast in June 1977 (hence the winter setting and wardrobe!).

Notes by Beth Taylor

All My Loving: Young Talent Time, 1979

The Beatles’ song ‘All My Loving’ plays an integral role in Young Talent Time with every episode since the very first one in April 1971 closing with a rendition by host Johnny Young and the cast. This example is made unique by its outdoor setting in Melbourne.  

Young released his slower version of the Paul McCartney song in 1967 and it became his signature tune, making it a natural choice for the Young Talent Time theme.  

Eight years into its staggering 18-year run the coverage and staging of this clip follows the conventions established by the show, such as the cast swaying to the music and their formation around Johnny resembling a family portrait.

John Young says today that ‘All My Loving’ was an important part of the program because it ‘said we were a family ’. 

Cast featured are Karen Knowles (1975–80), Steven Zammit (1975–80), Debbie Hancock (1975–79), Robert McCullough (1976–79), Nicole Cooper (1976–81), Johnny Bowles (1977–81), Tina Arena (1977–83) and Bobby Driessen (1979–83). 

Johnny Young had a string of pop hits during the mid-to-late 1960s including a No. 1 hit with 'Step Back' / 'Cara Lyn' (by Johnny Young and Kompany).

He also wrote hits for other artists; 'The Real Thing', recorded by Russell Morris, was named one of the Sounds of Australia by the NFSA in 2013 .

This is episode 79/08. 

More to explore

She’s still a Lady Beatle

Listen to an exclusive, unedited Binny Lum interview with three of The Beatles, recorded in London in April 1964.

I worked with The Beatles

On the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' Australian tour, Frank Ifield and Martin Benge remember the times when they worked with the Fab Four.

Dawn Swane's home movies

Discover a unique collection of home movies by make-up artist and dancer Dawn Swane, including never-before-seen footage of The Beatles.

The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.

Enter the NFSA Our Statement of Reflection

King Charles and Queen Camilla's Australian royal tour details revealed

By Karishma Sarkari | 1 week ago

New details of King Charles and Queen Camilla 's upcoming royal tour have been revealed.

The couple will touch down for their first official visit to Australia since the coronation on October 18, visiting Sydney and Canberra before departing on the 23rd.

Their Majesties' royal visit will be ahead of their trip to Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which runs from October 21-25.

READ MORE:  Fans given first look at Prince Harry's new docuseries

"Australians look forward to welcoming The King and Queen back to Australia in October, and highlighting the best of the Australian spirit," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

The King made 15 official visits to Australia during his time as Prince of Wales - in addition to spending a semester at school in Geelong back in 1966 - but this will mark his first visit as sovereign.

The four-day tour also marks the first visit to Australia by a reigning monarch since 2011.

Queen Camilla made three official visits as Duchess of Cornwall but this will mark her first as Queen Consort.

READ MORE: Everything we know about Kate Middleton's cancer battle

The couple were last in Australia in April 2018 for the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. During that last trip, they toured Queensland and the Northern Territory.

This visit, which is being undertaken as the King continues his cancer treatment, will be kept to Sydney and Canberra but will still feature a full diary of engagements from Sunday October 20 until Tuesday October 22.

The couple's itinerary "will be subject to doctors' advice", and the King's itinerary may be modified should health grounds require it, Buckingham Palace advised when first announcing the tour in July.

King Charles and Queen Camilla will arrive in Australia on the evening of October 18 and will receive an official welcome.

While in Sydney, the couple will conduct a fleet review of the Royal Australian Navy in Sydney Harbour and attend a community barbecue in Western Sydney, which will showcase produce from across NSW.

The pair will also hold solo engagements, with the King learning about the ground-breaking melanoma research being led by Australians of the Year Professor Georgina Long AO and Professor Richard Scolyer AO.

His Majesty will also meet Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives and groups to learn about their work in supporting local community and strengthening culture.

Queen Camilla will continue her literacy focus and visit a library, meeting with children participating in a Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition workshop.

Their Majesties will break up their time in Sydney with a trip to Canberra on Monday, October 21, where they'll be welcomed to Parliament House by the prime minister.

The day will also include a visit to the Australian War Memorial and time at the Australian National Botanic Gardens for the couple.

They'll also attend a reception for political and community leaders, and Australians who have excelled in the fields of health, arts, culture and sport.

In solo engagements, the monarch will meet with CSIRO scientists to discuss their work on bushfire impacts in Australia, while Queen Camilla will take part in a forum on domestic violence - another passionate cause she also champions in the UK.

"His Majesty first visited Australia in 1966, and has a strong personal affection for our nation. We are delighted that His Majesty is recovering well and has made visiting Australia once again a priority," Albanese said.

"The royal visit is an opportunity to showcase the best of Australia – our rich culture, our sense of community, and contributions to science, research and global progress."

The couple were expected to also visit New Zealand while in the region but this ultimately needed to be skipped on doctor's orders.

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"The King's doctors have advised that such an extended programme should be avoided at this time, to prioritise His Majesty's continued recovery," a palace spokesperson said earlier this year of the decision to miss New Zealand.

"In close consultation with the Australian and New Zealand prime ministers, and with due regard for the pressures of time and logistics, it has therefore been agreed to limit the visit to Samoa and Australia only," the spokesperson said.

"Their Majesties send their warmest thanks and good wishes to all parties for their continued support and understanding."

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We Reappear: Metallica Confirms 2025 North American Leg of Its M72 World Tour, Featuring Openers Pantera, Limp Bizkit & More

Matt Friedlander

Updated: 

Metallica has officially extended its long-running M72 World Tour into 2025 . The metal legends have announced a new North American leg of the trek that kicks off with an April 12 headlining performance at the Sick New World Festival in Las Vegas.

Videos by American Songwriter

The tour, which currently features 21 confirmed concerts, is mapped out through a June 27 and 29 engagement in Denver. Pantera, Limp Bizkit, Suicidal Tendencies, and Ice Nine Kills will join Metallica as support acts on select dates.

As with previous M72 World Tour legs, the 2025 trek will see Metallica playing two-night stands in many cities. These stops will be “No Repeat Weekends,” where the band will showcase almost completely different sets at each of the two shows.

The tour also will feature single-night performances in several cities. In addition to playing the Sick New World Festival, Metallica also will headline the 2025 Sonic Temple Festival in Columbus, Ohio, on May 9 and May 11. Those two gigs also will feature vastly different sets.

[RELATED: Metallica Headlining Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival for First Time Alongside Alice in Chains and Rob Zombie]

Two-show “No Repeat Weekends” ticket bundles and tickets to the one-night-only concerts will go on sale to the general public on Friday, September 27 at 10 a.m. local time. Pre-sale tickets will be available starting Monday, September 23, at 10 a.m. local time. For more details about the shows, and about travel and VIP packages, visit Metallica.com. A portion of proceeds raised by ticket sales are donated to local charities via Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation.

Metallica also is planning to bring the M72 World Tour to Australia and New Zealand next year.

More About Metallica’s 2025 North American Tour

The 2025 North American tour leg will feature Metallica’s first concerts in Tampa, Florida, in 15 years, and first shows in Nashville in five years. The Bay Area band also will be playing two concerts near its hometown, when it visits Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, for its first-ever shows there on June 20 and 22.

Metallica also will be playing Blacksburg, Virginia, for the first time on May 7. The show will take place at Lane Stadium, home of the Virginia Tech Hokies football team, who have been taking the field to the strains of “Enter Sandman” for more than 20 years.

Remaining 2024 Tour Plans

Metallica will wrap up the current leg of its M72 World Tour with four concerts in Mexico City. Those shows are scheduled for September 20, 22, 27, and 29, and include two pairs of “No Repeat Weekends” gigs.

Metallica also will be performing at the 2024 edition of its Helping Hands benefit concert and auction. The event, which raises money for the All Within My Hands Foundation, is scheduled for December 13 at YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.

Metallica’s 2025 North American Tour Dates:

April 12 – Las Vegas, NV @ Las Vegas Festival Grounds (Sick New World Festival) April 19 – Syracuse, NY @ JMA Wireless Dome* April 24 – Toronto, ON, Canada @ Rogers Centre* April 26 – Toronto, ON, Canada @ Rogers Centre+ May 1 – Nashville, TN @ Nissan Stadium* May 3 – Nashville, TN @ Nissan Stadium+ May 7 – Blacksburg, VA @ Lane Stadium* May 9 – Columbus, OH @ Historic Crew Stadium (Sonic Temple Festival) May 11 – Columbus, OH @ Historic Crew Stadium (Sonic Temple Festival) May 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Lincoln Financial Field+ May 25 – Philadelphia, PA @ Lincoln Financial Field* May 28 – Landover, MD @ Northwest Stadium* May 31 – Charlotte, NC @ Bank of America Stadium* June 3 – Atlanta, GA @ Mercedes-Benz Stadium* June 6 – Tampa, FL @ Raymond James Stadium+ June 8 – Tampa, FL @ Raymond James Stadium* June 14 – Houston, TX @ NRG Stadium* June 20 – Santa Clara, CA @ Levi’s Stadium+ June 22 – Santa Clara, CA @ Levi’s Stadium* June 27 – Denver, CO @ Empower Field at Mile High+ June 29 – Denver, CO @ Empower Field at Mile High*

* = Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies open.

+ = Limp Bizkit and Ice Nine Kills open.

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