On 26 March 1963 The Beatles performed at the Granada cinema in Mansfield, near Nottingham.
They opened for Tommy Roe and Chris Montez, and it was actually their second gig in Mansfield since they had appeared there together with Helen Shapiro on 23 February 1963.
The Granada was Mansfield’s first luxury cinema and was first called Plaza. It opened in 1930 and could seat over 5000 visitors.
In 1936 a Wurlitzer was installed and in 1942 the name changed to Granada.
The Granada was also home to the award winning Harvey Smith Dance Orchestra.
In the 1960 all over England many cinemas were being used to stage rock’n’roll concerts: The Granada played host to many major stars, mostly on hastily-convened package tours, with each act given only two or three songs to make their mark. A typical bill was 1961’s All-Stars Show, featuring Gene Vincent and Screaming Lord Sutch. February 1962 saw the Beatles share the billing with Helen Shapiro. Within a year they were conquering the world. But by 1973 the Granada had reached the end of its useful life: demolition began in May
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