THE BEATLES CONCERT CIRCA 1964
The Beatles had just been featured on the Ed Sullivan Show and Beatle-mania was at a fevered pitch in the States. The fans were so crazed that the opportunistic hoteliers would cut up the bed sheets that the boys had slept on and sell the small squares of their sheets to the screaming herds of young girls that were surrounding the hotel to catch a glimpse of the band as they departed. In the early days the Beatles had been condemned by young males because they captivated females and were making females act in a way that could not be explained. Screaming until you passed out could not be explained. Why were these long-haired boys from Liverpool getting all of this attention? Until I witnessed them in action first hand I personally was skeptical and downright envious of the female attention that they had drawn.
I was 14 years old and lived in Houston, Texas. I frequently went to Galveston Beach for the day as it was a mere 45-minute drive from my home. I had just arrived home from a day at the beach and I was very sunburned and pooped from my day of fun in the sun when the phone rang. It was my friend John calling. John explained that his sister’s birthday party had been cancelled at the last minute due to a bout of mumps. John went on to explain that his parents had purchased tickets for his sister and her friends to attend the Beatles concert at the Houston Coliseum. The Houston Coliseum was an art-deco building downtown that backed-up to the Buffalo Bayou that seated about 6000 people. It was torn down during one of many of the revitalization projects in Houston. My first response was NO WAY but after hearing his plea, I said yes because John was an old summer camp buddy and had stood up for me at camp many times and I owed him a favor. I knew his mother was pressuring him to find someone to use those tickets. What could it hurt, I wouldn’t see anyone I knew so I wouldn’t risk any embarrassing encounters. You could get your driver’s license at the age of 14 in Texas and John not only had his license but he had his own car. What an adventure, going downtown to a concert with no adults. How could I say no? So effortlessly the next thing I know, we have arrived, parked and are at our seats in the Coliseum. There were rows and rows of metal folding chairs with very wide aisles about every 30 chairs or so. Our seats were smack dab in the middle, about half way down from the stage so truly in the middle of the audience. There was not an opening act so it all seemed very calm at this point and the stage was fairly empty with just a drum kit, three microphones and three small amps. The stage set up looked nothing like the towers of speakers and elaborate instrumental set up you see nowadays. As we waited for the show to start, the coliseum filled up in an orderly manner. The show was sold out so eventually every seat was filled. This was my very first concert so I had nothing to compare it to but it all seemed normal to me, with a couple of exceptions. What were all of the stretchers and smiling EMS folks doing amidst the audience? And why was there a double ring of Houston Policemen locked arm in arm forming a barrier in front of the stage? There were at least 60 policemen in this curious formation. Hmmm since I had no previous experience with concerts I did not realize that this was a loud and clear sign of things to come. All looked under control until the Fab Four entered the stage and just like that the order and calm immediately disappeared. I think the first song was “I want to hold your hand” there was so much screaming you couldn’t hear a word or note and the screaming masses of frenzied females began to climb onto their chair seats. I looked at John, we shrugged our shoulders and climbed onto the seats of our folding chairs which was precarious at best. We still couldn’t hear a thing as the screaming was relentless, but at least we could see over the madness. The young girls screamed so much that they became oxygen deprived and one by one began to pass out and as they fainted they would fall onto each other or hit the chairs on the way to their eventual destination…the floor. They looked like mighty pine trees crashing down in the forest, straight and tall. Very few of the fallen fans made the fall to the floor without incurring a bloody head wound. The presence of the EMS fellows suddenly made perfect sense to John and I as we watched them peel the girls off of the floor and carry them out on the stretchers. I will never forget the girl in the row immediately behind me screaming her lungs out while pounding and slapping on my tender sunburned back and then suddenly it stopped. I turned around to see that she was attending to her friend who had fainted and hit the floor and she was waiting for assistance from EMS. Then my attention was drawn to a very sturdy and somewhat hefty girl rushing down the aisle heading for the stage. She had gotten a 40-yard start and was running like a full-back, hurtling straight for the stage. With her full throttle momentum, she became airborne and she blew through the police line and made a successful landing. She landed on her belly on the stage and as she was swimming towards Paul the police grabbed her by her pants legs. By the time the cops finally succeeded in pulling her off of the stage her pants were around her knees. Ringo seemed to be very amused by her laser focused attempt to get to Paul and got caught up in the silliness of the moment and threw the Greek fisherman hat he was wearing Frisbee style into the screaming crowd. All I know is that I would not want to be that hat. What a sight.
We determined that we would not hear a single note of the Beatle’s songs in this pandemonium and chaos and we had seen all we could handle so we made a break for the exit knowing we would have to catch their tunes on the radio. It was truly a once in a lifetime, thank goodness, experience. I was glad to have witnessed it and even more thankful to have survived it. All you need is love.
Speaking of love, our garden is in full production and we have more zucchini then we can give away so soup it is. Enjoy this zucchini soup recipe. It was made with love and excess squash.
Southwestern Squash Soup
Makes 8 hefty bowls
Ingredients
Eight cups of zucchini, peeled and chopped
Two cups chopped white onion
Eight cloves of garlic smashed
Four tablespoons of fresh ginger, rough chop
Six cups chicken stock, homemade is best
Eight tablespoons of butter
Quarter cup chopped jalapeño
Two tablespoons of sea salt
Method
All items go into the blender so rough chop is fine.
Melt two tablespoons butter in an 8-quart sauce pan. After butter has melted add the onion, garlic and ginger to soften.
Then add the zucchini, chicken stock, jalapeño and salt. Simmer for twenty minutes.
Pour half of the soup into a blender and blend until smooth while adding two tablespoons of butter.
Purée the second half the same way.
Steam always expands so vent your blenders
Remember what Julia said “if you are afraid of cream use butter”.
Serve hot