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This was one of the hairiest days in Beatles history. As the story goes, Imelda Marcos — first lady of the Philippines and founding member of the Shoe Collector’s Hall of Fame — had arranged a meeting and reception for The Beatles at the presidential palace. Unfortunately, no one had thought to inform The Beatles of this, with the result that they unintentionally snubbed the Marcoses and insulted the entire country.
The show must go on, of course and it did — the Fabs played two shows at Manila’s Rizal Memorial Football Stadium for a total of 80,000 people. But afterward things got a little sketchy. According to Beatles press officer Tony Barrow:
At the end of the second concert, our police escort back to the hotel was withdrawn and gates were locked against our convoy. This left our stationary limousines at the mercy of organised troublemakers, scores I would say rather than dozens, pressing menacingly against our windows, rocking the vehicles to and fro and yelling insults at The Beatles which none of us could understand.
In the end they were not, in fact, torn limb from limb by an angry mob. It’s hard to say how much danger they were really in, but it’s safe to say that for once, it was no fun being a Beatle.