The Beatles' 1966 tour of Germany, Japan and the Philippines
| Tour by The Beatles | |
| Start date | 24 June 1966 |
|---|---|
| End date | 4 July 1966 |
| Legs | 1 |
| No. of shows | 13 |
| The Beatles concert chronology | |
The English rock group the Beatles toured Germany, Japan and the Philippines between 24 June and 4 July 1966. The thirteen concerts comprised the first stage of a world tour that ended with the band's final tour of the United States, in August 1966. The shows in what was then West Germany represented a return to the country where the Beatles had developed as a group before achieving fame in 1963. Those in Japan and the Philippines marked the only live performances that the band ever gave in Asia. The return flight to England included a stopover in Delhi in India. There, the Beatles indulged in two days of sightseeing and shopping for musical instruments while still under the attention of the press and local fans.
The concerts were well attended yet, typical of the band's increasing disinterest in the Beatlemania phenomenon, provided the Beatles with little in the way of artistic fulfilment. No songs from their recently completed album, Revolver, were attempted in concert, such was the division between what the group could achieve when performing as a four-piece with inadequate amplification to combat the sound of thousands of screaming fans, and the more complex music they were able to create in a studio environment. Concerts at the Circus-Krone-Bau in Munich and the Nippon Budokan hall in Tokyo were filmed and broadcast on local television networks.
The Asian concerts proved especially controversial. The bookings at the Budokan, a venue reserved for martial arts, offended many traditionalists in Japan, resulting in death threats to the Beatles and a heightened police presence throughout their stay. In Manila, their nonattendance at a social engagement hosted by the Marcos regime led to a hostile reaction from Philippine citizens, government officials and army personnel. The Beatles and their entourage were manhandled while attempting to leave the country and forced to surrender much of the earnings from the group's two shows at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. On their return to London, the Beatles were outspoken in their condemnation of the Philippines. The events in Manila also caused the band to lose faith with their longtime manager, Brian Epstein, and make the decision to end their career as live performers.
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