One of the rarest Beatles concert tickets

Rizal Memorial Football Stadium, Manila Philippines - July 4, 1966


Philippines 1966 full ticket

This is one of the least common of all Beatles concert tickets worldwide, and this near-mint evening ticket is one of only a small quantity of known full unused tickets from these shows.




Philippines 1966 stub
Philippines 1966 stub
Stubs from the afternoon and evening shows.




Phillippines concert program

The now very scarce 52-page Souvenir Program featured Fan Club newsletters, biography's, career highlights, "Letters from Beatles people", lots of full-page B&W photos, song lyrics, interviews, Beatle News and more.




Program centerfold

The centerfold of the program, showing the concert schedule and an advertisement from the promoter. The fans must have been pretty bored by the time the Beatles appeared. There were 8 opening acts followed by an intermission. The shows were at 4:00pm and 8:30pm.

    Part One

  • Opening Fanfare - Philippine National Anthem
  • Overture
  • Eddie Reyes and D'Downbeats (with the D'Cavalcade Dancers)
  • Dale Adriatico
  • Wing Duo
  • Pilita Corrales
  • Lemons Three
  • Quartet (accompanied by Pilita & The Lemons Three)
  • The Reycard Duet.

    INTERMISSION

    Part Two

  • The Beatles




Cathay Pacific Air souvenir card

Inside of the Cathay Pacific Airways in-flight souvenir card. This custom card was issued only to those aboard the Beatles flight. Inserted inside was a nice 4x5 photograph of the Beatles. The front of the card featured the airline logo and stated "A Souvenir of The Beatles, Hong Kong-Manila, July 3, 1966".




Cathay Pacific Airways flyer

Promotional sticker issued by Cavalcade Promotions, advertising the concert and listing the sponsors. These were printed in several different colors including violet, pink and orange and given out to local fan club members.




Cathay Pacific Airways flyer

A scarce handbill advertising the concerts.




Beatles Philippines arrival
Beatles Philippines press 1
Beatles Philippines press 2
Beatles Philippines press 3
Unpublished and previously unseen photos from the Beatles arrival and press conference.




Imelda Stood Up!!

On July 3rd, the day prior the show, The Manila Sunday Times reported that the Beatles were invited to join the President and Mrs. Marcos (with their 3 children) to their Malacanang Palace at 11am. The Beatles knew nothing of this appointment, hearing only of a request for a short "pop-in" at the palace at 4pm which they respectfully declined due to the fact that their first show started at 4pm! The Beatles claimed they never received the earlier 11am invitation.

Much to the Beatles surprise, the palatial tyrants were extremely angered at the Beatles neglect and the morning after the concert, The Manila Times ran the headline "Imelda Stood Up!!". The ramifications were to become serious. Philippine promoter Ramon Ramos refused to pay the Beatles for their performance! Bomb and death threats were telephoned to the deluged British Embassy and to the boys hotel suite. Brian Epstein was so distressed with the situation he arranged for a press conference from the hotel to apologize for the misunderstanding. BUT...as fate would have it, some unforeseen static blipped out his interview from most all TV screens in the country! (more than a few thought it was probably more shenanigans by the Marcos clan).

Pulling more strings the next day when the Beatles were scheduled to depart the country, Misael Vera, Philippine Tax Authority, insisted the group could not leave the country until every penny of the taxes owed them was paid! Of course, they never got paid anything but Brian hurriedly forked over a bond out his own funds for P.74,450 (around $18,000) to settle the matter.

To make matters worse, all security detail assigned to the boys were withdrawn leaving them extremely vulnerable. They were literally kicked and jostled as they left their hotel and totally harassed all the way to the airport. Things were no better there where the airport manager has also removed all security for the Beatles. They went so far as to shut down the power to stop the escalators, forcing the boys to scale several flights of stairs with their own luggage, only to face an angry mob of 200 Filipinos brutally manhandling them! Ringo was literally floored by an uppercut and kicked on the ground. He suffered a sprained ankle as well and had to be helped to the customs area. Mal Evans and Brian Epstein were injured as well. Alf Bicknell suffered a cracked rib and a spinal injury.

When they finally approached the plane, a large booing crowd jeered and mocked them chanting "Beatles Alis Dayan!" (Go Home Beatles!) Once in the plane, some scraping government officials "decided" the Beatles were NOT authorized to leave the country due to inaccurate "check in" procedures days earlier... This led to another 40 minute wait on the Tarmac while Mal & Tony Barrow went back to the terminal to clean up the necessary paperwork. Only minutes after the Beatles angrily departed, did the press run a statement by President Marcos stating "Their was no intention on the part of the Beatles to slight the first lady or the government of the Republic Of The Philippines". Obviously a bit too late to do the Beatles any good.

The Beatles vowed to NEVER return and it's a vow they kept. It was, indeed, the scariest moment they ever experienced! Their next stop was India, for a planned few days of quiet and rest, but greeting them at the airport and their hotel were more than 600 screaming fans. They returned to England on July 8th. Five weeks later, on August 11th, they flew to Chicago to start their last American tour which, as we all know too well, had its own looming troubles. Needless to say, the Beatles clearly needed the break they gave themselves at the end of August when they performed their last live concert performance at San Francisco's Candlestick Park.


- PC/MM 1998




Back to Beatles USA Concert Tickets