Did teenagers 'riot' when the Beatles stayed in downtown Minneapolis in 1965?
Teenage girls scaled fire escapes and hid in garbage cans outside a downtown Minneapolis motel in hopes of getting a peek at the Beatles when the band came to town in 1965.
The chaotic scene — Minneapolis' first and only taste of true Beatlemania — took place hours after the band's concert at Bloomington's Metropolitan Stadium. It drew a stern response from the Minneapolis Police Department, whose attempts to enforce a curfew gave the Fab Four the impression that this was a "very narrowminded town."
Reader Carol Becker heard from a friend that police were taken aback by the disorderly crowds that August night. Becker contacted Curious Minnesota, the Star Tribune's reader-driven community reporting project to find out just how wild it was — as teen girls once again descend upon Minneapolis this weekend to see Taylor Swift at U.S. Bank Stadium.
"Is it true there was a riot of 15-year-olds here when the Beatles came?" Becker asked.
To answer the question, we turned to our archives and some local Beatlemaniacs, who painted a picture of a wild, unforgettable night — but not quite a riot.
Source: Zoë Jackson, Star Tribune
