In 1966, The Beatles had never canceled a show, but a rainy night and a worried sick Paul McCartney ended their streak. The band arrived in Cincinnati for a concert and found a venue that was woefully unprepared for bad weather. The band faced a difficult decision: risk getting electrocuted onstage or cause a riot by canceling. McCartney found this so stressful that he got sick.
Paul McCartney was so worried about a Beatles show that he got sick
The Beatles faced several problems when they arrived in Cincinnati. The first was the open-air venue, leaving them completely exposed to the elements. They also realized that the venue didn’t anticipate them playing electric guitars.
“Cincinnati was an open-air venue, and they had a bandstand in the centre of the ballpark, with a canvas top on it,” George Harrison said in The Beatles Anthology. “It was really bad weather, pouring with rain, and when Mal [Evans] got there to set up the equipment, he said, ‘Where’s the electricity power feed?’ And the fella said, ‘What do you mean, electricity? I thought they played guitars.’ He didn’t even know we played electric guitars.”
The band ran a real risk of electric shock if they got onstage. Equally as scary, though, was the prospect of telling 35,000 fans that the show was canceled. In their disappointment, they might have caused a riot.
“It was really scary,” band attorney Nat Weiss told author Philip Norman, per Rolling Stone. “The crowd kept screaming, ‘We want the Beatles!’ and Paul grew so upset at the prospect of going out there that he was sick. The strain was too great. And he threw up in the dressing room.”
Ultimately, road manager Mal Evans received a violent electric shock while setting up and the band canceled the show. It became the first concert the band missed in their careers.
“It was so wet that we couldn’t play,” Harrison said. “They’d brought in the electricity, but the stage was soaking and we would have been electrocuted, so we cancelled — the only gig we ever missed.”
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The Beatles played a make-up concert the following day
The band placated their disappointed fans by scheduling their make-up concert for the following day.
“[W]e did it the next morning,” Harrison said. “We had to get up early and get on and play the concert at midday, then take all the gear apart and go to the airport, fly to St. Louis, set up and play the gig originally planned for that day. In those days all we had were three amps, three guitars, and a set of drums. Imagine trying to do it now!”
The concert in St. Louis was also rainy, but they went through with the performance this time.
Paul McCartney wanted to keep playing live shows long after the other Beatles wanted to quit
Shows like the ones in Cincinnati and St. Louis were enough to exhaust Harrison, John Lennon, and Ringo Starr. McCartney took longer to convince that the band should stop touring, though.
“I’d been trying to say, ‘Ah, touring’s good and it keeps us sharp. We need touring, and musicians need to play. Keep music live,’” McCartney said. “I had held onto that attitude when there were doubts, but finally I agreed with them.”
The combination of the stressful, canceled show in Cincinnati and the rainy concert in St. Louis was enough to get The Beatles to retire from the road.
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