On Aug. 17, 1965, the Beatles gave two concerts at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens, their first since a three-city Canadian debut (Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal) in 1964. The Toronto concerts followed the tour-opening show at New York’s Shea Stadium. A typical set was comprised of a dozen short songs, played to a screaming throng.
The group flew from New York to Toronto in the Lockheed Electra aeroplane chartered by Brian Epstein from American Flyers for this 1965 US tour. They arrived in the morning and were taken to the King Edward Sheraton hotel. News that The Beatles were staying at the Sheraton had become known to fans, and dozens booked themselves rooms in the hope of meeting the group.
The Beatles held their press conference between shows, at a banquet room off the Hot Stove Lounge in Maple Leaf Gardens.
On Aug. 17, 1966, at Maple Leaf Gardens, the Beatles gave their sixth and final Canadian concert, less than two years after their debut at Vancouver’s Empire Stadium. Each of the two shows was seen by 18,000 people. The Beatles played for 27 minutes. Their set contained 12 songs: a shortened version of Twist And Shout, followed by She’s A Woman, I Feel Fine, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Ticket To Ride, Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby, Can’t Buy Me Love, Baby’s In Black, Act Naturally, A Hard Day’s Night, Help! and I’m Down.