“TICKETS don’t matter when you are a Beatles fan!” announced the front page of the Evening Times on October 21, 1964.

It was the day the Fab Four came to Glasgow, kicking off their final tour of the UK with two shows at the Odeon on Renfield Street.

(The tour also took in Dundee, fact fans, where the term Beatlemania was coined.)

The world’s most famous group had decided to play the Odeon because it could seat 6000 fans.

A previous visit to Glasgow, in October 1963, had led the Evening Times to report that screaming from the crowds meant almost no one in the audience could hear anything they played.

Glasgow Times:

Under an article entitled ‘Beatles fans tore up concert hall’ the newspaper reported: “So much damage was done by spectators at the Beatles jazz group concert in Glasgow Concert Hall on Saturday that it is unlikely that it is unlikely the corporation will let the hall again to similar groups.”

A year later, and The Evening Times captured photographs of happy fans queuing up from nine o’clock in the morning, eager to catch a glimpse of their heroes - even though they had no chance of getting in to see the show.

An advert, buried in the listings pages of the newspaper, announced that the Beatles would play at 9pm, adding a little unnecessarily - “All Seats Sold”.

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The set list would include big hits, such as Can’t Buy Me Love, A Hard Day’s Night and the Little Richard cover Long Tall Sally.

Later in the day, as the concert start time grew closer, mounted police took to the streets to keep a close eye on hundreds of people now congregating outside the venue, not all of whom had tickets.

Glasgow Times:

There were some disturbances, with shop windows smashed and cars overturned, and a handful of arrests but this time the venue itself survived intact.

(The cleaner apparently confirmed there was “almost no litter - the cinema was cleaner than during a run of Goldfinger.)

According to the Evening Times the next day, the sheriff presiding over the men’s cases at Glasgow Central Police Court suggested, presumably with a heavy hint of irony: “Perhaps their excitement was caused by the visit of the Beatles.”

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Lord Provost at the time, Peter Meldrum, made his feelings about the ‘Beatles Riot’ - as the Evening Times described it on the inside pages - very plain.

“We will not tolerate this type of conduct in Glasgow,” he said. “It must end and it will be stamped out.

“There seems to be a hard core of out-and-out hooligans who cause all the trouble. They appear to think that on occasions like a visit of the Beatles they can run riot and get away with it.”

The woes for our emergency services did not end there.

After John, Paul, George and Ringo played, our sister newspaper, The Herald reported that “hundreds of girls apparently suffering from hysteria” had to be treated by ambulance personnel.

It added: “At one stage, West Regent Street had the appearance of a field hospital, with dozens of girls sitting propped up on the pavement, being attended by nurses.”

The headline said it all: “A hard day’s night for police.”

Did you see The Beatles when they came to Glasgow in the 60s?

We would love to hear your memories and see your photos of the Fab Four’s visit to the city in October 1964.

Write to Ann Fotheringham, Glasgow Times, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3QB or email ann.fotheringham@glasgowtimes.co.uk