Friday 4 November 1960 | Live performance | Hamburg, Germany | By Beatles Fabdom
On 4 November 1960, The Beatles performed their 32nd night at the Kaiserkeller in Hamburg, Germany. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best returned to the basement club at Große Freiheit 36, sharing the bill with fellow Liverpool group Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.
Ringo Starr was part of the same nightly programme, but not yet a Beatle. He played drums for the Hurricanes, while Pete Best occupied The Beatles’ drum stool. The two groups alternated sets through the night, bringing the future bandmates into regular contact during The Beatles’ first Hamburg visit.
| Date | Friday 4 November 1960 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Kaiserkeller |
| Address | Große Freiheit 36, 22767 Hamburg, Germany |
| Residency night | 32nd of 56 nights |
| The Beatles’ line-up | John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best |
| Shared bill | Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, featuring Ringo Starr on drums |
| Performance format | Alternating sets through the night |
| 56-night performance calendar | 4 October–28 November 1960 |
The Beatles’ 32nd night at the Kaiserkeller
The Beatles began their Kaiserkeller engagement on 4 October 1960, following their first weeks in Hamburg at the Indra. By Friday 4 November, they had completed 31 consecutive nights on the Kaiserkeller calendar and were beginning the fifth weekend of the engagement.
This appearance followed the 31st night on 3 November and the 30th night on 2 November. The regular return to the same club was very different from their later touring schedules: rather than delivering a brief set before moving on to another city, they shared the evening’s playing duties with another band.
The Hamburg work demanded a broad repertoire and the stamina to keep performing over extended evenings. It was also a practical education in entertaining a nightclub audience. This was before a Beatles record had appeared in the British charts, before Brian Epstein became their manager, and before the familiar four-man recording line-up existed.
From the Indra Club to the Kaiserkeller
The Beatles’ first Hamburg appearance took place at the Indra on 17 August 1960. Liverpool promoter Allan Williams helped arrange the engagement with Bruno Koschmider, who owned both the Indra and the Kaiserkeller.
After finishing at the Indra on 3 October, the musicians moved to the Kaiserkeller the following day. Both clubs were on Große Freiheit in St. Pauli: the Indra at number 64 and the Kaiserkeller at number 36. The move therefore took them to another nearby stage rather than another part of Germany.
The Kaiserkeller should not be confused with the Star-Club, the venue associated with The Beatles’ later Hamburg visits and their December 1962 live recordings. That club stood at Große Freiheit 39. The Top Ten, another important Beatles venue, was on the Reeperbahn. Each belongs to a distinct part of their Hamburg history.
Who was in The Beatles on 4 November 1960?
The Beatles were a five-piece group in November 1960. Stuart Sutcliffe was the bass player, while McCartney was still a guitarist. Pete Best had joined shortly before the musicians left Liverpool for their first German engagement.
| Musician | Role |
|---|---|
| John Lennon | Guitar and vocals |
| Paul McCartney | Guitar and vocals |
| George Harrison | Guitar and vocals |
| Stuart Sutcliffe | Bass guitar |
| Pete Best | Drums |
Sutcliffe’s place in the group is central to the story of this first Hamburg visit. His friendship with Lennon, his art background and his relationship with Astrid Kirchherr connected the band’s musical life with the city’s young artists and photographers. Read more in our Stuart Sutcliffe biography.
Pete Best was the drummer heard with The Beatles during this engagement. Placing Ringo in the Hamburg story is important, but it does not change the personnel of The Beatles’ performance on this date.
Ringo Starr and the Hurricanes on the same bill
Rory Storm and the Hurricanes were an established Liverpool group, with Ringo Starr on drums. At the Kaiserkeller, they and The Beatles took turns playing as the evening progressed. The Hurricanes were not simply an opening act appearing once before The Beatles: both groups contributed to the club’s nightly programme.
The arrangement meant that Ringo and his future bandmates worked in the same venue over a sustained period. They could hear one another perform and became familiar with the same audiences and demands of the club circuit. Ringo would join The Beatles in August 1962, but in November 1960 he remained a Hurricane.
There is another link between the groups and the visual history of The Beatles. In the BBC’s account of these Hamburg beginnings, Klaus Voormann first entered the Kaiserkeller while the Hurricanes were playing. He stayed to hear The Beatles after the changeover, then brought Astrid Kirchherr and Jürgen Vollmer to see them. That episode belongs to the wider residency, rather than being assigned to 4 November.
Astrid Kirchherr’s photographs of the five-piece Beatles
Kirchherr’s portraits captured a group very different in appearance from the suited quartet of Beatlemania. Leather jackets, instruments and the Hamburg fairground setting became part of the surviving visual record of their first German visit.
The portrait shows the five-piece band with its instruments at the Hamburger Dom fairground. It is a period portrait, not a photograph of the 4 November concert. In his later tribute to Kirchherr, McCartney remembered her visits to the Hamburg clubs with Voormann and Vollmer and the distinctive atmosphere of her black-and-white photographs.
These friendships developed alongside the nightly performances. Kirchherr’s photographs recorded Best and Sutcliffe as members of The Beatles, preserving a stage in the group’s history that preceded both their first EMI single and the final recording-era line-up.
Complete Kaiserkeller residency calendar: October–November 1960
The 56-concert chronology runs from 4 October to 28 November 1960, making 4 November night 32. Some general histories extend the engagement to 30 November; this calendar follows the individual performance dates listed by the Paul McCartney Project and separates them from the arrests on 29 November.
October 1960: nights 1–28
- 4 October 1960
- 5 October 1960
- 6 October 1960
- 7 October 1960
- 8 October 1960
- 9 October 1960
- 10 October 1960
- 11 October 1960
- 12 October 1960
- 13 October 1960
- 14 October 1960
- 15 October 1960
- 16 October 1960
- 17 October 1960
- 18 October 1960
- 19 October 1960
- 20 October 1960
- 21 October 1960
- 22 October 1960
- 23 October 1960
- 24 October 1960
- 25 October 1960
- 26 October 1960
- 27 October 1960
- 28 October 1960
- 29 October 1960
- 30 October 1960
- 31 October 1960
November 1960: nights 29–56
- 1 November 1960
- 2 November 1960
- 3 November 1960
- 4 November 1960: this performance
- 5 November 1960
- 6 November 1960
- 7 November 1960
- 8 November 1960
- 9 November 1960
- 10 November 1960
- 11 November 1960
- 12 November 1960
- 13 November 1960
- 14 November 1960
- 15 November 1960
- 16 November 1960
- 17 November 1960
- 18 November 1960
- 19 November 1960
- 20 November 1960
- 21 November 1960
- 22 November 1960
- 23 November 1960
- 24 November 1960
- 25 November 1960
- 26 November 1960
- 27 November 1960
- 28 November 1960
How the first Hamburg visit ended
The 4 November performance came several weeks before the first Hamburg visit broke up. The dated calendar places the final Kaiserkeller performance on 28 November. McCartney and Best were arrested on 29 November, during the troubled conclusion of the engagement.
The distinction matters when following the day-by-day story. On 4 November, The Beatles were still working through their regular residency with Best and Sutcliffe in the line-up and the Hurricanes sharing the bill. The events that brought the visit to an end were still ahead.
Where is the Kaiserkeller in Hamburg?
The historic Kaiserkeller address is Große Freiheit 36, 22767 Hamburg, Germany, close to the Reeperbahn in St. Pauli. The present-day Kaiserkeller forms part of the Große Freiheit 36 venue complex and is in the basement. The map below targets the venue address.
Open the Kaiserkeller address in Google Maps.
Explore The Beatles’ Hamburg merchandise
Our Hamburg designs also explore the band’s later association with the city. The following items reference December 1962 and the Star-Club era, rather than this 1960 Kaiserkeller appearance.
Frequently asked questions
Where did The Beatles play on 4 November 1960?
They performed at the Kaiserkeller at Große Freiheit 36 in Hamburg, Germany.
Which night of the Kaiserkeller residency was this?
4 November was the 32nd night of the 56-night performance calendar beginning on 4 October 1960.
Was Ringo Starr playing with The Beatles that night?
No. Ringo was the drummer in Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, who alternated sets with The Beatles. Pete Best was The Beatles’ drummer.
Who played bass for The Beatles in November 1960?
Stuart Sutcliffe played bass. Paul McCartney was still a guitarist in the five-piece band.
Was the Kaiserkeller the same venue as the Star-Club?
No. The Kaiserkeller was at Große Freiheit 36. The later Star-Club was at number 39 on the same street.
Who photographed The Beatles during their first Hamburg visit?
Astrid Kirchherr photographed the five-piece band in Hamburg in 1960. Her fairground portrait is used as the period image for this article.
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