THE FAB 4 PLAYED AT DUNDEE’Ss CAIRD HALL

• The Beatles with the Countess of Strathmore.DC Thomson

It was the last time the Fab Four played at Dundee’s Caird Hall — and their set couldn’t even be heard.

Following their first Dundee gig in 1963, a year later The Beatles played to a packed-out concert hall with 6,000 screaming teenage girls drowning out the band’s entire set.

Ecstatic fans screaming until they collapsed was common at a Beatles concert, but reports of their last show in the city said the “bedlam” was on a whole new level.

This Monday marks the 50th anniversary of that famous gig.

A newspaper report from the day after said: “Almost a year ago I stood deafened and dazed, at the fantastic welcome given to John, Paul, George and Ringo on their first visit to the city.

“Compared to last night’s ear-splitting bedlam — that earlier occasion sounded like the ‘pop’ from damp framework.”

As McCartney first graced the stage, the noise levels rose to deafening and “nerve-tingling” proportions.

The report said “scores” of paramedics were called into action to help collapsing fans, as songs like “She Loves You” and “Love Me Do” only managed to reach the ears of the first couple of rows.

“Girls from all parts of the hall, the majority of them sobbing ecstatically or in a state of collapse, were led out to recover. The final tally of the casualties was 50,” the report said.

“The Beatles accepted the welcome with a grin, a little wave, and got down to the near impossible task of being heard.

“They made it — but only the merest whisper managed to reach the first few rows.

“It was battered back by wave upon wave of sound.”

As sheer pop-crazed madness coursed through the concert hall, extensive security was called in — which included local and national wrestling champions. The report continued: “A solid wall of muscle was provided by 40 powerful stewards, many of them local and national wrestling champions, shoulder to shoulder along the front of the stage.

“At strategic points throughout the hall another 35 Beatle-protecting giants patrolled aisles, often reseating frenzied girls.”

At the time The Beatles were at the peak of their powers, and had returned to Dundee after playing shows extensively throughout Britain and America.

Tickets to their comeback gig were so highly sought after that even the Countess of Strathmore wanted to see them play.

She had a spot of tea before and a long friendly chat with the lads from Liverpool before sitting in the wings to watch them play.

But huge levels of decibels created by all the screams apparently spoiled the whole show for the pop-loving countess.

She said at the time: “The audience was appalling, and completely bad-mannered to make so much noise.

“Most of the time I had my fingers pressed over my ears to keep out the awful noise.”

“Suddenly, unbelievably, it was all over,” the news report added. “The last strains of ‘Long Tall Sally’ died away and the boys bowed their way out.”