В декабре 1961 года Сэм Лич взялся организовать серию концертов для своих друзей-музыкантов из Ливерпуля. Выступить предстояло в Palais Ballroom в Олдершоте, графство Хэмпшир. Пол Маккартни, Джон Леннон, Джордж Харрисон и Пит Бест собирались дать свой первый концерт на юге Англии. Была надежда, что концерт привлечёт внимание руководителей лондонской студии звукозаписи, но, к сожалению, Лич не понимал, что Олдершот – военный городок, расположенный в 60 километрах от столицы Англии. Кроме того, объявление о предстоящих концертах, о котором договаривался Лич, так и не появилось в местных газетах, потому что он расплатился чеком вместо наличных и не указал реквизиты.
Концерт планировался как битва групп между «Битлз» (The Beatles) из Ливерпуля и «Айвор Джей и Нарушители» (Ivor Jay and the Jaywalkers) из Лондона. Соперники не явились.
«Битлз» ехали в Хэмпшир в течение девяти часов. Их вёз друг Лича Терри Маккэнн. Добравшись до места выступления, они не нашли никаких плакатов. В тот вечер молодым музыкантам пришлось играть для 18 зрителей.
«Мы приехали, выгрузили вещи, парни настроили свои усилители и стали ждать, когда соберётся толпа... они ждали, ждали, ждали», - Терри Маккэнн.
«[Сэм Лич] останавливал всех прохожих на улице, чтобы рассказать о концерте. Они заглядывали на минутку, говорили "скучно", и сваливали куда-нибудь», - Терри Маккэнн.
«В середине выступления Джордж и Пол надели верхнюю одежду и спустились в зал танцевать фокстрот с малочисленной публикой, пока остальные играли для них и горстки зрителей. Мы дурачились всю вторую половину концерта. Джон и Пол специально фальшивили, неправильно играли аккорды и добавляли к песням слова, которых никогда не было в оригинальном тексте», - Пит Бест.
«Вы можете себе представить, каково было «Битлз» играть для четырёх танцующих и шести убогих лиц, которые стояли в сторонке и просто смотрели. Они делали всё возможное, но это было бесполезно. Они собрались примерно в 21:30. Тогда Сэм достал пиво и по полу начали пинать шары бинго: Ливерпуль против Олдершота», - Терри Маккэнн.
"Я часто задаюсь вопросом, как те молодые люди теперь вспоминают о вечере, когда «Битлз» приехали в Олдершот и почти никто не пришёл, чтобы их видеть. Я представляю: "О, мы там были, нас было всего 18, мы смотрели на Битлз" на сцене... и они выступили на бис», - Сэм Лич.
Concurrent with Brian’s efforts to cajole London music men up to Liverpool, the Beatles played a booking down south, and shrewdly he mentioned it to no one. Sam Leach’s plan to show o the Beatles in the capital—as part of his scheme to make them rich and him their manager—went more than slightly askew. On Saturday, December 9, the Beatles played for the rst time in the south of England … in the Palais Ballroom, Aldershot. Leach had posters, handbills and tickets printed, booked an ad in the Aldershot News, and hoped that, though it was almost forty miles southwest of London, a few star-spotters would drive out to see them. For the Beatles, it entailed a 420-mile round-trip in a clapped-out van and hired car —no motorways, at least nine hours on the road each way. Neil Aspinall didn’t go because Leach used his own driver. It was a mad day out, a big fat last hurrah before the Epstein era. By tidy coincidence, before leaving home that morning, Paul had a letter in the post from Charles Munro, his solicitor. Allan Williams’ case against the Beatles had lapsed; it was over. From his £10 advance, £2 13s was returned to Paul with thanks. Managers … The Beatles were supposed to be headlining over three other groups in Aldershot, the evening running 7:30 to 11:30 … but no one else turned up. Leach had fabricated two of the groups, to make the poster look better, but the main named support act simply failed to show. And so too did the general public. The newspaper hadn’t run Leach’s ad. All manner of reasons have been given for this, at least some of them fanciful, but the one salient fact for the Beatles was that they’d traveled 210 miles for a £20 gig and no one was there to see them. By going around pubs and coee bars announcing themselves, Leach and the Beatles managed to rustle up a few customers—eighteen is the unveriable number that has gone down in legend—and, to their great credit, the Beatles played almost the entire four hours. Never had so much been played to so few. “We didn’t walk o,” says Paul, “we did our whole thing for about twelve people. We always did this, on the unspoken understanding that if we ever came back then those twelve would have told other people ‘I saw this quite good group the other day …’ ”16 A photo of the Beatles playing while ten people danced and four more stood around was taken by Dick Matthews, who’d come along for the adventure and brought his Zeiss camera. Before the night was out it also captured a shot of Pete singing and mugging, John and George waltzing around the dance oor, John pulling two monstrous crips, and John, George, Leach and Matthews glugging from bottles of southern Watneys Brown Ale. They were in the middle of a boisterous game of bingo-ball football when the police arrived, inquired who they were and what they were doing there, and ordered them out of town. From here the story gets especially cloudy. They drove forty miles into central London, perhaps in search of a particular person or a particular Soho club, but it was long after midnight and even here places were bolting their doors. Leach says they went to the All- Nighter Club in Wardour Street and that John and Paul got up on stage and played a couple of numbers. The Nerk Twins Go To London? It’s a nice story but maybe not much more.17 No food was provided, nor lodging—they slept in the van parked in a lay-by. Leach says the Beatles’ driver (his pal Terry McCann) had to siphon gas to get them back to Liverpool. Pete says Leach was unable to pay the Beatles their £20 and could scrape together just £12, so they ignored him all the way back to Liverpool, “treating him to one of our Beatle Silences, which could be quite frosty, with solemn, sour faces gazing vacantly into space.”18 Leach says he still thought the Beatles might choose him as their manager … but if they weren’t already committed to going with Brian (which they were), the Aldershot asco did it for him.
