It could have been the "Palladium or the Sahara", according to Ringo Starr, but the final live performance by The Beatles took place 55 years ago today on top of an office building in central London.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo - together with keyboard player Billy Preston - took to the stage on January 30 1969 for a filmed performance, from which excerpts would feature in the documentary Let It Be.
The venue was 3 Savile Row, home of their company Apple Corps, and the gig began at lunchtime, bringing workers out into the street to listen, with lucky fans taking to the roofs of neighbouring buildings or leaning out of windows.
While the band prepared for recordings that would feature in the film of Let It Be, they played around with tunes including I Want You (She's So Heavy) and God Save The Queen.
For many in that corner of central London that day it will have been a dream concert, but not for everyone. The police received complaints and intervened - something the band and the organisers expected.
According to The Beatles Anthology, published in 2012, McCartney said: "In the end it started to filter up from Mal [Evans, road manager] that the police were complaining. We said: ‘We’re not stopping.’ He said: ‘The police are going to arrest you.’ ‘Good end to the film. Let them do it. Great! That’s an end: "Beatles Busted on Rooftop Gig.”'
It was less dramatic than it might have been, with the plug pulled as the rain fell.
But clips will be long remembered and nearly the full audio is available now on streaming platforms as The Beatles: Get Back – The Rooftop Concert. The publication followed the release of Peter Jackson's The Beatles: Get Back on Disney+.
For an in-depth look at the show, visit the website Beatles Bible, which lists the setlist as follows:
- Get Back (rehearsal)
- Get Back (take one)
- I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’ (instrumental excerpt)
- Get Back (take two)
- Don’t Let Me Down (take one)
- I’ve Got A Feeling (take one)
- One After 909 (rehearsal)
- One After 909
- Danny Boy (excerpt)
- Dig A Pony (rehearsal)
- Dig A Pony
- God Save The Queen (jam)
- I’ve Got A Feeling (take two)
- A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody
- Get Back (false start)
- Don’t Let Me Down (take two)
- Get Back (take three)
1. The Beatles
The Beatles performing their last live public concert on the rooftop of the Apple Corps building for director Michael Lindsey-Hogg's film documentary, Let It Be, in Savile Row, London, on January 30, 1969. Ringo Starr drums while Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison form the front line. Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono, sits on the right. | Getty Images Photo: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
2. Get Back
Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison, seen from across the street. | Getty Images Photo: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
3. Hello, Goodbye
It was to be The Beatles' final live performance, but a take of Get Back, in particular, would be seen by millions. | Getty Images Photo: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
4. London's finest
The perhaps-surprising cover in The Beatles final live public set was God Save The Queen. | Getty Images Photo: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images