Manila Bay- Manila, Philippines - VirtualTourist.com

Find yourself with nothing to do in Manila? If you are a fan of the Beatles you might want to check out some of the sights in Manila associated with the Beatles' visit on July 4, 1966. Their visit to the Philippines was a significant event in their history...not necessarily in a good way!

Having just played a series of controversial concerts in the sacred Budokon in Tokyo, the Fab Four arrived in Manila as part of their World Tour in the summer of the 1966. If the 1960's wasn't already in turmoil enough....it was even worse in the Philippines under the strict control of the Marcos' gov't. What possessed Brian Epstein to book them into the Philippines at that time still is a wonder to this day! After landing at the airport, the four lads were wisked away and brought to the Manila Yacht Club and put on a private boat in the middle of Manila Bay. It was the 1st time they had ever been separated from their manager and the Beatles were quite shaken by this. The Yacht Club is still there and pretty much looks the same as it did in the 1960's. It is located on Roxas Blvd.

The Beatles stayed at the Manila Hotel just down the road from the Yacht Club. From the information I have obtained on the internet it is not 100% clear which rooms they stayed in. The Hotel itself has undergone major changes since then...with a major addition in 1976 of the "tower". The room numbers were changed in the old section of the hotel to accommodate the new addition. The Hotel itself has no records of room occupancy dating back that far but from what I understand they stayed on the 4th floor of the old section....possibly in adjoining suites 401-403-405 and 407. Paul McCartney did manage to sneak out of the hotel at one point and hopped in a taxi to tour the dowtown area.

The Beatles gave two concerts that day...one in the afternoon and one in the evening. According to the contracts signed, there were only supposed to be about 30,000 tickets sold for each event. The local promoters were greedy of course and managed to sell over 80,000 tickets for each show. The tickets sold for about $3 on average. The concert took part at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium. It is still there and is pretty much unchanged from the way it looked in the 1960's. I asked the guards at the front entrance if I could go inside to look and they nicely obliged. The stage was set up in the far field with 80,000 onlookers in the field and in the football stands. Although the shows were terribly crowded and slightly unsafe, the two shows went off without any major problems. The football stadium is located in Pasay City right across the street from Harrison Shopping Plaza.

The next day the Beatles had a sceduled day off to relax before boarding their British Airways flight to London. They had planned to relax and stay in their hotel room. Without their prior knowledge, the President and First wife Mr. & Mrs. Marcos had gone ahead and planned a reception at the Presidential palace in honour of the Beatles. Apparently, their manager Brian Epstein was informed but politely declined the offer but the presidential office insisted. The Beatles were not even informed of the request so they obviously were not going to show up. The next morning, they woke up to a flurry of phone calls from the Press. They wanted to know why they had "snubbed" the first family! It was all over the tv news and in the newspapers. It was at this time that their manager made last minute arrangements to fly out of Manila. They packed up their stuff but they were not granted a police motorcade like they usually have arranged on these kinds of trip. They had to wait in the lobby of the Manila Hotel for a taxi! Now, the lobby has changed somewhat since then. The grand lobby as seen today was added in the mid-1970's along with the tower. The lobby in July of 1966 was the immediate part of the lobby as soon as you enter the hotel. It was just a long stretch of lobby back then that extended out to the right and to your left. It is still intact today and can be seen upon entering the hotel itself. The Beatles waited there and finally got a few taxis to take them and their entourage to the airport.

They never were paid for these shows. The authorities refused to let their plane leave the ground until they returned the money. This was a significant part of the Beatles history because it was after this incident that they decided to quit touring altogether! This was the final date of the Asian leg of the tour. The Beatles went on to North America from there and vowed to themselves to never tour again and to concentrate strictly on making studio albums. Their last concert live concert was one month later in San Francisco, California. None of the Beatles ever returned to the Philippines again.

Manila Bay, Manila

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Manila Bay, Manila

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