This was the first time The Beatles had performed in the south of England, playing at the Palais Ballroom in Aldershot, Hampshire, before giving their first show in London later in the evening.
The event was put on by Sam Leach, who had promoted The Beatles numerous times previously in the Merseyside area. His believed that, since no A&R men or record label executives were willing to travel to Liverpool to see the group play, he would take them to the south east instead. Unfortunately instead of showcasing The Beatles in the Greater London area, he booked them for five consecutive Saturday nights in Aldershot.
This night was billed on posters and handbills as a “Liverpool v London Battle of the Bands” featuring The Beatles and the London group Ivor Jay and the Jaywalkers, “plus two other star groups”. Leach also claimed to have placed a sizeable advert for the event in the Aldershot News and sent a £100 cheque to cover the cost, but the newspaper refused to cash it because he was not a regular advertiser and new customers were required to pay in cash. Furthermore, he failed to give any contact details, so the newspaper couldn’t contact him to explain their rules, and the advertisement never ran.
The result was that The Beatles played to a nearly empty venue. Despite having endured a nine-hour journey from Liverpool, before taking the stage the group descended on the two coffee bars in the town offering free admission to anyone interested in seeing a rock ‘n’ roll show, but in the end only 18 people turned up. What’s more, Ivor Jay and the Jaywalkers also failed to show.
Leach, who had invited A&R men to attend, was despondent. He had hired an impressive car for the month of the Aldershot gigs, and arranged for a driver, Dave Johnstone, to chauffeur him from Liverpool to Aldershot. The Beatles were driven to the event by Terry McCann, another of Leach's friends.
Halfway through one number George and Paul put on their overcoats and took to the floor to dance a foxtrot together, while the rest struggled on, making enough music for the handful of spectators. They clowned their way through the whole of the second half. John and Paul deliberately played wrong chords and notes and added words to the songs that were never in the original lyrics. At one point Pete got fed up and Terry McCann played on a few songs. They did their best, but it was no use. They packed up at about 9.30pm.
Afterwards the group consoled themselves by drinking bottles of Watney’s brown ale, and playing football on the dance floor with bingo balls. A neighbour called the police, and when The Beatles emerged from the ballroom at 1am there were three police cars and four police vans waiting. They were told to leave the town and not return.
With nowhere to go, they drove to London where they played an impromptu set at the Blue Gardenia Club in Soho, in the early hours of 10 December.