Channel Islanders celebrate 60 years since The Beatles' iconic island concerts

  • Fred Dimbleby has delved into the archives to look back on The Beatles' 1963 Channel Islands tour


Channel Islanders have paid tribute to the Fab Four to mark six decades since The Beatles performed in Jersey and Guernsey.

Before becoming household names and going on to change the British definition of music, culture and celebrity, in 1963, four young Liverpudlians stepped off a plane at Jersey Airport ready to perform for fans across the islands.

The Beatles may not have guessed that 60 years on, events would be held around the islands to commemorate their concerts.

They performed gigs at Jersey's Springfield Ballroom and Guernsey's Candie Gardens but also took time out to relax by the coast, taking advantage of already rare moments of peace as they continued their rise to musical immortality.

Former bouncer Chris Honeycombe at Springfield Stadium, on the site of the ballroom where The Beatles performed. Credit: ITV Channel

Chris Honeycombe was a bouncer at their concerts in Jersey and said the atmosphere was "brilliant".

"When they got on stage and they started playing, you knew something great was coming. 

"Everyone was tapping and dancing, clapping and shouting, it was brilliant, absolutely brilliant." 

Had the Beatles been at the height of their fame, you can imagine the press in the Bailiwicks would have been full of stories about their appearances here. 

Instead, there are only humble memories of these era-defining musicians.

One edition of the Channel Viewer - the region's local TV magazine - describes how "hundreds of Channel Islands teenagers" and "not a few older beat fans" were mesmerised by "the four fabulous young men of the moment." 

Across the islands, musicians have been paying tribute to the Fab Four and their performances here. 

The Band of the Island of Jersey performed great Beatles hits on the weekend. 

The Musical Director, Chris Le Maistre, said he had always been a fan of the "fantastic" band who he had followed all his life.

The Band of the Island of Jersey performing some of The Beatles' greatest hits in Howard Davis Park. Credit: ITV Channel

After their performances in Jersey, the Beatles travelled to Guernsey thanks, in part, to music promoter Baron Potin.

His daughter Gill Girard watched on as a tribute act performed there on Tuesday and said "We sat on the front row and just, so close and it was just a fabulous atmosphere."

The band returned to Jersey for another two performances, before heading back to England. 

It is believed they were paid around £1,000 for the gigs - a small fee for a band that would go on to conquer the world. 

Perhaps they took their memories from the islands with them as they rose to the top. 


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