From 1961 to 1966, the English rock band the Beatles performed all over the Western world. They began performing live as The Beatles on 15 August 1960 at The Jacaranda in Liverpool and continued in various clubs during their visit to Hamburg, West Germany, until 1962, with a line-up of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Pete Best, and Stuart Sutcliffe. Following Sutcliffe's departure, the Beatles continued performing throughout 1962, most notably at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, where they were discovered by Brian Epstein and George Martin. After replacing Best with Ringo Starr, the Beatles performed a series of concert tours throughout the UK in 1963, before they left for the US in early 1964. As Beatlemania and the British Invasion came into full force, they began a world tour and continued to perform in the UK and US throughout 1965, including a well-known performance at Shea Stadium in New York City.
In 1966, following a controversial tour of Germany, Japan and the Philippines and a tour of the US (which was plagued with backlash due to Lennon's "more popular than Jesus" comment), the Beatles ceased performing live due to being fed up with touring and became a studio-only band. Their last commercial performance was at San Francisco's Candlestick Park on 29 August. It marked the end of a four-year period dominated by almost nonstop touring that included over 1,400 concert appearances internationally. The group made no more public appearances until 30 January 1969, when they performed an unannounced rooftop concert at their Apple Corps headquarters in London. Numerous documentaries about their live performances have been made before and after their break-up, including The Beatles at Shea Stadium (1965) and The Beatles: Eight Days a Week (2016).
Below is a list of all known live performances the Beatles undertook during their career as a band. Any appearances with members that differ from the best-known line-up (Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr) are marked accordingly.
List of live performances
1960
The band played a farewell show at The Jacaranda in Liverpool before driving to Hamburg from outside the venue the next day. The show was the band's first live performance after changing their name from The Silver Beetles to The Beatles, it was also Pete Best's first live performance with the band. The full line-up was John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best. +DateTown or cityCountryVenueNotes14 August 1960LiverpoolEnglandThe Jacaranda 17 August 1960HamburgGermanyIndra Club
1961
At the beginning of 1961, The Beatles' lineup was John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe, and Pete Best. Sutcliffe left the band in June or July 1961; McCartney switched from rhythm guitar and piano to bass after Sutcliffe left.
Date Town or city Country Venue Notes 5 January 1961 Litherland England Litherland Town Hall 6 January 1961 Bootle St John's Hall 7 January 1961 Aintree Aintree Institute Seaforth Lathom Hall 8 January 1961 Liverpool The Casbah Coffee Club 13 January 1961 Aintree Aintree Institute 14 January 1961 15 January 1961 Liverpool The Casbah Coffee Club 18 January 1961 Aintree Aintree Institute 19 January 1961 Crosby Alexandra Hall 20 January 1961 Seaforth Lathom Hall 21 January 1961 25 January 1961 Huyton Hambleton Hall 26 January 1961 Litherland Litherland Town Hall 27 January 1961 Aintree Aintree Institute 28 January 1961 Seaforth Lathom Hall 29 January 1961 Liverpool The Casbah Coffee Club 30 January 1961 Seaforth Lathom Hall 1 February 1961 Huyton Hambleton Hall 2 February 1961 Litherland Litherland Town Hall 3 February 1961 Bootle St John's Hall 4 February 1961 Seaforth Lathom Hall 5 February 1961 Walton Blair Hall 6 February 1961 Seaforth Lathom Hall 7 February 1961 Liverpool Merseyside Civil Service Club 8 February 1961 Aintree Aintree Institute 9 February 1961 Liverpool The Cavern Club 10 February 1961 Aintree Aintree Institute 11 February 1961Liverpool Cassanova Club 12 February 1961 The Casbah Coffee Club 14 February 1961 Cassanova Club 15 February 1961 Huyton Hambleton Hall 16 February 1961 Liverpool Litherland Town Hall 17 February 1961 St John's Hall 18 February 1961 Aintree Aintree Institute 19 February 1961 Liverpool The Casbah Coffee Club 21 February 1961 The Cavern Club 22 February 1961 Huyton Hambleton Hall24 February 1961WallaseyGrosvenor Ballroom25 February 1961LiverpoolLathom Hall26 February 1961The Casbah Coffee Club28 February 1961The Cavern Club1 March 1961AintreeAintree Institute2 March 1961LiverpoolLitherland Town Hall3 March 1961BootleSt John's Hall4 March 1961AintreeAintree Institute5 March 1961LiverpoolThe Casbah Coffee Club6 March 1961Liverpool Jazz Society7 March 1961Cassanova Club8 March 1961HuytonHambleton Hall10 March 1961WallaseyGrosvenor Ballroom11 March 1961AintreeAintree Institute12 March 1961LiverpoolThe Casbah Coffee Club13 March 1961The Cavern Club14 March 196115 March 1961Liverpool Jazz Society16 March 1961The Cavern Club17 March 1961Mossway Hall19 March 1961The Casbah Coffee Club20 March 1961HuytonHambleton Hall21 March 1961LiverpoolThe Cavern Club22 March 196124 March 196126 March 1961The Casbah Coffee Club 27March 1961 Hamburg West Germany Top Ten Club28 March 196129 March 196130 March 196131 March 19611 April 19612 April 19613 April 19614 April 19615 April 19616 April 19617 April 19618 April 19619 April 196110 April 196111 April 196112 April 196113 April 196114 April 196115 April 196116 April 196117 April 196118 April 196119 April 196120 April 196121 April 196122 April 196123 April 196124 April 196125 April 196126 April 196127 April 196128 April 196129 April 196130 April 19611 May 19612 May 19613 May 19614 May 19615 May 19616 May 19617 May 19618 May 19619 May 196110 May 196111 May 196112 May 196113 May 196114 May 196115 May 196116 May 196117 May 196118 May 196119 May 196120 May 196121 May 196122 May 196123 May 196124 May 196125 May 196126 May 196127 May 196128 May 196129 May 196130 May 196131 May 19611 June 19612 June 19613 June 19614 June 19615 June 19616 June 19617 June 19618 June 19619 June 196110 June 196111 June 196112 June 196113 June 196114 June 196115 June 196116 June 196117 June 196118 June 196119 June 196120 June 196121 June 196122 June 196123 June 196124 June 196125 June 196126 June 196127 June 196128 June 196129 June 196130 June 19611 July 19612 July 196113 July 1961LiverpoolEnglandSt. John's Hall14 July 1961The Cavern Club15 July 1961Holyoake Hall16 July 1961WaltonBlair Hall17 July 1961LiverpoolLitherland Town Hall19 July 1961The Cavern Club20 July 1961St. John's Hall21 July 1961AintreeAintree Institute22 July 1961LiverpoolHolyoake Hall23 July 1961WaltonBlair Hall24 July 1961LiverpoolLitherland Town Hall25 July 1961The Cavern Club26 July 196127 July 1961St. John's Hall28 July 1961AintreeAintree Institute29 July 1961WaltonBlair Hall30 July 196131 July 1961LiverpoolLitherland Town Hall2 August 1961The Cavern Club3 August 1961St. John's Hall4 August 1961AintreeAintree Institute5 August 1961LiverpoolThe Cavern Club6 August 1961The Casbah Coffee Club7 August 1961Litherland Town Hall8 August 1961The Cavern Club9 August 196110 August 1961St. John's Hall11 August 1961The Cavern Club12 August 1961AintreeAintree Institute13 August 1961LiverpoolThe Casbah Coffee Club14 August 1961The Cavern Club16 August 196117 August 1961St John's HallJohnny Gustafson guested on bass, allowing Paul McCartney wander in the crowd as he sang.18 August 1961AintreeAintree Institute19 August 196120 August 1961HuytonHambleton Hall21 August 1961LiverpoolThe Cavern Club23 August 196124 August 1961St. John's Hall25 August 1961The Cavern Club26 August 1961AintreeAintree Institute27 August 1961LiverpoolThe Casbah Coffee Club28 August 1961The Cavern Club29 August 196130 August 196131 August 1961St. John's Hall1 September 1961The Cavern Club2 September 1961AintreeAintree Institute3 September 1961HuytonHambleton Hall5 September 1961LiverpoolThe Cavern Club6 September 19617 September 1961Litherland Town Hall8 September 1961St. John's Hall9 September 1961AintreeAintree Institute10 September 1961LiverpoolThe Casbah Coffee Club11 September 1961The Cavern Club13 September 196114 September 1961Litherland Town Hall15 September 1961WallaseyGrosvenor Ballroom16 September 1961AintreeAintree Institute17 September 1961HuytonHambleton Hall19 September 1961LiverpoolThe Cavern Club20 September 196121 September 1961Litherland Town Hall22 September 1961Village Hall23 September 1961AintreeAintree Institute24 September 1961LiverpoolThe Casbah Coffee Club25 September 1961The Cavern Club27 September 196128 September 1961Litherland Town Hall29 September 1961Village Hall15 October 1961MaghullAlbany Cinema16 October 1961LiverpoolThe Cavern Club17 October 1961David Lewis Club18 October 1961The Cavern Club19 October 1961Litherland Town Hall20 October 1961Village Hall21 October 1961The Cavern Club22 October 1961The Casbah Coffee Club24 October 1961The Cavern Club25 October 196126 October 196127 October 1961Village Hall28 October 1961AintreeAintree Institute29 October 1961HuytonHambleton Hall30 October 1961LiverpoolThe Cavern Club31 October 1961Litherland Town Hall 1 November 1961 The Cavern Club 3 November 1961 4 November 19617 November 1961 Merseyside Civil Service ClubThe Cavern Club 8 November 1961 9 November 196110 November 1961 Liverpool Town Hall New Brighton Tower Ballroom Liverpool Village Hall 11 November 1961 Aintree Aintree Institute 12 November 1961 Liverpool Hambleton Hall 13 November 1961 The Cavern Club14 November 1961 Merseyside Civil Service ClubThe Cavern Club 15 November 196117 November 1961 Village HallThe Cavern Club 18 November 1961 19 November 1961 The Casbah Coffee Club21 November 1961 Merseyside Civil Service ClubThe Cavern Club 22 November 1961 23 November 196124 November 1961 The Casbah Coffee Club New Brighton Tower Ballroom 26 November 1961 Liverpool Hambleton Hall 27 November 1961 The Cavern Club 28 November 1961 Merseyside Civil Service Club 29 November 1961 The Cavern Club1 December 1961 New Brighton Tower BallroomLiverpool The Cavern Club 2 December 1961 3 December 1961 The Casbah Coffee Club 5 December 1961 The Cavern Club 6 December 19618 December 1961 New Brighton Tower Ballroom9 December 1961 Aldershot Palais BallroomThe Beatles in Aldershot on The Mersey Beat websiteThe Beatles at the Palais Ballroom in Aldershot – The Beatles Bible websiteHoward N. Cole, The Story of Aldershot: a History of the Civil and Military Towns, Southern Books, Aldershot (1980) p. 300 London The Gardenia Club 10 December 1961 Liverpool Hambleton Hall 11 December 1961 The Cavern Club 13 December 196115 December 1961 New Brighton Tower BallroomLiverpool The Cavern Club 16 December 1961 17 December 1961 18 December 1961 19 December 1961 20 December 1961 21 December 1961 23 December 1961 26 December 1961 New Brighton Tower Ballroom 27 December 1961 Liverpool The Cavern Club 29 December 1961 30 December 1961
1962 All 1962 live performances listed include Pete Best up until 15 August 1962. Ringo Starr joins officially as of 18 August.