Paul news- fan encounter from Beatle days
The night I danced with Paul McCartney
SHE was just 17, but Patricia Dyson can recall The Beatles’ first performance in Wales, in Rhyl.
Patricia, 59, of Trem-yr-afon, Kinmel Bay, even claims to have danced with Paul McCartney at the Regent Dansette Ballroom show.
A plaque celebrating the gig has been unveiled at the site, now the upstairs of Burton’s clothes shop in the High Street, on the 42nd anniversary of the Fab Four’s first Welsh outing.
Patricia said: “It was great. It was quite busy, although it wasn’t a huge place. It was the Saturday night. I had a dance with Paul McCartney.
“I had no idea that they were going to be famous. Never would I have imagined. All I remember is going their with my friend, Christie. We used to go and see all the bands that came to Rhyl. I can’t remember what they played, I don’t think they had released anything by that time.
“I had a dance with McCartney, though. Definitely.”
Dave Hammans, a 19-year-old bouncer at the club in the summer of 1962, remembers things a little differently, however.
“No, the group didn’t mix with the crowd, at all,” said Dave, of Coast Road, Rhyl. “They had a room back stage and dashed off, afterwards.
“There were three bouncers on duty. It was a good natured crowd and, towards the end, we were about a yard away from the stage, stopping them getting to the band.
“There were a lot of people there, over 100 and the crowd were going pretty mad for them.
“They had just made their first record, but they weren’t allowed to play it. They performed the B-side, I think.”
In fact, The Beatles had yet to record their first single, Love Me Do, which was released in September 1962.
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