Screams blocked out sound of The Beatles at Brighton Hippodrome concert

Although hundreds packed into the venue to hear the Fab Four in their prime, nobody can recall any of the music for the frenzied screams.

The evening was June 2, 1963. The venue was one of the city’s finest and the band was the greatest in pop history.

One of those who witnessed the historic occasion was then-17-yearold trainee photographer, Colin Payne.

He said: “I know it’s a cliché and everybody says it, but you couldn’t hear a thing for the screams.

“You would perhaps catch the first chord of a song but then the screams would start again.

“It was quite an experience.”

Fresh from the success of early hits She Loves You and Twist and Shout, Lennon, McCartney, Starr and Harrison rolled into town to performa seven-song set from their new album a Hard Day’s Night.

Tickets sold out within minutes of being released and extra police were drafted in to control the audience.

Mr Payne added: “In those days all officers wore white hats and gloves. I can remember that colour against all the girls’ dark eyeliner.”

One of those girls in the audience was now 60-year-old Jill Edwards.

Just ten years old at the time, she travelled from her home in Lancing with her older sister and friend.

She said: “I just remember the noise.

“I can’t remember any of the songs, you couldn’t hear them.

“It was quite an experience.”

The band came back to Brighton to perform twice more in 1964.

However, it wasn’t until after the band split that photographer Mr Payne encountered one of the members once again.

He said: “I was working for the Daily Express in 1980 and was on a job in New York.

“I was with our chief reporter having a Chinese meal when we got a call to say that John Lennon had been shot.

“We rushed to the Dakota Building and there he was inside a body bag.

“Americans heard our accents and just presumed we must have knownThe Beatles.

“I’ll never forget it.”

Were you at the Hippodrome gig? Send your memories to news@theargus.co.uk.