The Beatles live: Cirkus, Gothenburg, Sweden – 27 October 1963

Sunday 27 October 1963 | Three live shows | Cirkus, Gothenburg, Sweden

The Beatles played three shows at Cirkus in Gothenburg on 27 October 1963, appearing at 3pm, 5pm and 8pm. The venue stood in the Lorensbergsparken district, and the concerts made this the busiest performance day of their autumn Swedish concert tour.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr arrived from Stockholm, where they had played twice the previous evening. In Gothenburg, they shared the programme with Swedish group Trio Me’ Bumba and English group Ken Levy and the Phantoms.

From Stockholm to Gothenburg

The journey south-west followed the two Kungliga Tennishallen shows in Stockholm on 26 October. The Beatles made the roughly 500-kilometre trip in one car, with their equipment travelling in another.

On reaching Gothenburg, the group checked into the Park Avenue Hotel in the city centre. Their schedule then turned to a demanding afternoon and evening at Cirkus: three audiences, three performances and only two hours between the first two show times.

Gothenburg, also known by its Swedish name Göteborg, was the third city on the five-date concert itinerary. Karlstad and Stockholm had each hosted two shows; Gothenburg added three, taking the concert total to seven before the final engagements in Borås and Eskilstuna.

Three shows at Cirkus

The day’s performances were scheduled for 3pm, 5pm and 8pm. Holding several shows at the same venue allowed different audiences to see the Beatles within a compact touring schedule.

The supporting programme paired the Swedish Trio Me’ Bumba with Ken Levy and the Phantoms from England. This mixed bill placed the Beatles within a wider live-music event, bringing together local and visiting acts for the Gothenburg audiences.

The concert repertoire combined the group’s own recent hits with the rock ’n’ roll and rhythm-and-blues songs that remained central to their stage performances. George’s Roll Over Beethoven, Ringo’s Boys and the high-energy Twist and Shout all featured in the Swedish-tour selection.

Setlist

The Swedish tour’s nine-song set brought together Beatles singles, debut-album favourites and established live numbers:

1. Roll Over Beethoven
2. Please Please Me
3. I Saw Her Standing There
4. From Me to You
5. A Taste of Honey
6. Boys
7. She Loves You
8. Twist and Shout
9. Long Tall Sally

Please Please Me, I Saw Her Standing There, A Taste of Honey, Boys and Twist and Shout connected the concerts with the Beatles’ first album. From Me to You and She Loves You brought their subsequent singles into the programme, while Roll Over Beethoven and Long Tall Sally drew on the American rock ’n’ roll repertoire that helped shape their live sound.

For merchandise connected with this early-album chapter, explore the Please Please Me Gold Foiled T-shirt.

The complete Swedish concert itinerary

The Beatles gave nine concerts across five dates on the Swedish run. Gothenburg’s three performances sit between the Stockholm and Borås engagements:

Radio, concerts and television in Sweden

The visit extended beyond the concert halls. On 24 October, the Beatles recorded a radio performance at Karlaplansstudion in Stockholm. Our Stockholm radio-session article covers that separate engagement.

After the Eskilstuna concert on 29 October, the group recorded the television programme Drop In in Stockholm on 30 October. The radio and television work bookended the five concert dates, giving the Swedish visit a reach beyond the audiences who attended the live shows.

Where was Cirkus in Gothenburg?

The former Lorensbergs Cirkus site is beside Lorensbergsteatern, at Södra vägen and Berzeliigatan in central Gothenburg. This is the historical concert site, not a modern circus venue elsewhere in the city.

Gothenburg City Museum’s 1969 photograph record places the Cirkus façade at the Södra vägen/Berzeliigatan junction. The museum’s venue history records an original building from 1884, its replacement after a fire in 1900, and demolition in 1969. The Beatles therefore played the later building, which no longer survives.

The site subsequently became a parking area. The map below centres on the documented street junction beside the former venue site, rather than Lorensbergsparken generally; it does not mark a surviving Cirkus building or a verified historical entrance.

Open the former Cirkus site’s street junction in Google Maps.

Explore the Please Please Me era

The Gothenburg repertoire makes a natural connection with the Beatles’ debut album. Alongside the Please Please Me T-shirt, the Please Please Me steel wall sign offers another way to celebrate that early recording chapter.

Frequently asked questions

Where did the Beatles play in Gothenburg on 27 October 1963?

They played at Cirkus in Lorensbergsparken, beside the Södra vägen/Berzeliigatan junction in central Gothenburg, Sweden.

How many shows did the Beatles give that day?

They gave three shows, at 3pm, 5pm and 8pm local time.

Who supported the Beatles at Cirkus?

The supporting acts were Swedish group Trio Me’ Bumba and English group Ken Levy and the Phantoms.

Where did the Beatles stay in Gothenburg?

They checked into the Park Avenue Hotel in the centre of the city.

How many concerts were on the Swedish tour?

There were nine concerts across five dates, from 25 to 29 October 1963, in Karlstad, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Borås and Eskilstuna.

Does the Cirkus building still exist?

No. It was demolished in 1969, and the site was subsequently used as a parking area.

27 October in Beatles history: the complete timeline · Karlstad, 25 October 1963 · Stockholm, 26 October 1963 · Stockholm radio, 24 October 1963 · More On This Day in Beatles History