Fab four: The night The Beatles rocked the King's Hall
It was one of the most famous gigs Belfast has ever staged.
Now, half-a-century on, memories have been stirred of the day The Beatles came to town.
A collection of previously unseen images shows the group playing to a packed King's Hall.
The photographs have been released by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
They show the band playing one of two sell-out concerts on the same night in November 1964.
Around 16,000 adoring fans thronged the venue, many paying less than £1 to see their idols.
The man who brought the group to Belfast was promoter Trevor Kane.
He described it as the biggest coup of his career.
"It is the one that stands out - The Beatles were the biggest attraction in the world at the time," Mr Kane told the Belfast Telegraph.
"They were number one in the charts and were at the peak of their fame."
The gig came about after Mr Kane took a phone call from Arthur Howes, The Beatles' British tour promoter.
"Brian Epstein was their manager at the time, but Arthur Howes was promoting their concerts throughout the British Isles," he explained.
"George Connell and myself were the promoters of the King's Hall at the time, and the only place big enough to take The Beatles was the King's Hall. I was bringing most of the top artists over to Belfast - people like Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck - and that was why they contacted me."
At the time The Beatles were the biggest group in the world, and were making their second and last visit to Ireland.
They had previously played in 1963 at the old Ritz cinema in the centre of Belfast.
By: Adrian Rutherford
Source: Belfast Telegraph
