BEATLES – Day By Day – 1/3/63
Thursday, January 3rd, 1963
After a couple of false starts The Beatles new year finally got underway at the Two Shoes Ballroom on South College Street in the Scottish town of Elgin.
Following their flight to London from Hamburg on New Year’s Day the group stayed in London overnight before getting on a flight to Scotland on January 2nd to start their first official tour, a five night trip around various Scottish towns thanks to a contract signed between Brain Epstein and the Cana Variety Agency back in November of 1962.
Bad weather meant their flight to Edinburgh was redirected to Aberdeen. With roadie Neil Aspinall and the group’s van stuck in Edinburgh, plus the roads to the planned gig in the town of Keith being impassable, the gig was cancelled.
John took the opportunity to fly back to Liverpool for a few hours, returning to Scotland early on the morning of the 3rd in time to get to the Elgin gig. The Elgin gig was notable for the L-shaped ballroom which meant a some of the audience couldn’t actually see the Beatles on stage.
