The Beatles in Belfast

The Beatles at the King’s Hall, Belfast, 2 November 1964. Photo: Nick Newbery

(BBC Northern Ireland) A selection of previously unreleased photographs from a concert the Beatles played in Belfast can be viewed for the first time.

The Fab Four performed two shows at the King’s Hall, on 2 November 1964, in front of more than 16,000 screaming fans.

The pictures were taken by photographer Nick Newbery, who was working for his student newspaper in Belfast at the time, and “was sent to cover a story on a band coming to town called The Beatles”.

The five pictures have been released by the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI).

PRONI’s Iain Fleming (!) said: “I’m sure there are people out there who attended the concert and who would love to see the images. We are very grateful to Nick for donating the photographs.”

During each of the two King’s Hall concerts, the group performed 10 songs:

Twist And Shout

Money (That’s What I Want)

Can’t Buy Me Love

Things We Said Today

I’m Happy Just To Dance With You

I Should Have Known Better

If I Fell

I Wanna Be Your Man

A Hard Day’s Night

Long Tall Sally.

After working as a freelance news photographer in England, Nick Newbery moved to Canada in 1970 and became a teacher.

The 1964 concerts were The Beatles’ second and final visit to Northern Ireland. They had previously performed at Belfast’s Ritz cinema on 8 November 1963.

Digital copies of the photographs can be viewed in the PRONI reading room and on Flickr.