The news about the possibility of Sir Paul McCartney doing a concert or two in the Philippines as part of his Got Back tour is obviously making a shockwave, especially among Beatles die-hards regardless of age.
Whether this is a mere drum-up to the release of a restored Michael Lindsay-Hogg-directed Let It Be film or another fake news entry by content creators desperate for intriguing material, there’s a nice ring to it — the idea of one of the Fab Four setting foot in Manila again, or since their fateful visit in July 1966.
So much has been said about that infamous incident, of The Beatles apparently snubbing an invitation from then-First Lady Imelda Marcos. Or should we say of the miscommunication that led to a hostile reaction from “citizens loyal to the Marcos regime,” or as Wikipedia described those who manhandled the leaders of the cultural revolutions in the 1960s.
The regime here refers not to the current Philippine president Bongbong Marcos, but to his old man former President Ferdinand Marcos who was the elected leader at the time of the fateful visit where The Beatles performed two concerts at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
On the bright side, the combined audience of 80,000 that saw The Beatles performing in person on July 4 was a single-day turnout record for them which magnified their immense popularity. One of their front acts was a group called Downbeats, which featured a young Pepe Smith who would turn out to become the pioneering poster boy of Pinoy rock.
These things were overshadowed by what happened right before when the group watched themselves not coming to an invitation at the Malacanang Palace. They were not informed of this occasion and it was actually declined but not relayed properly.
Brian Epstein, the manager of The Beatles, naturally had to take the blame for the fracas. If one is to analyze, the incident was the final straw that led to the group abandoning live concerts, which added to his frustration as the decision would lessen his group’s dependence on him.
The Beatles last performed live in front of a paying audience a month after the Manila incident and Epstein died of an accidental drug overdose a year later.
While Filipinos take pride in being hospitable, the Manila experience of The Beatles, of all people, reflected some poor showing on the part of some of those who had the opportunity to interact with them.
At the airport on their way out the day after the headline-grabbing snub and the packed concerts, George Harrison recalled they were beaten and kicked by “thugs” he saw on their arrival a couple of days back. The airport manager whose name does not deserve to be mentioned was said to have bragged of knocking Epstein to the ground and punching both John Lennon and Ringo Starr. How in the world could you end up being physically attacked because you didn’t attend a welcome party.
McCartney was quoted as saying, after learning about the EDSA Revolution of 1986, that they “must have been the only people who’d ever dared to snub Marcos.”
One can wonder what kind of treatment the celebrated singer-songwriter would have if and when he decides to make a return trip to the Philippines, given that BBM had won a landslide victory in the 2022 national elections.
One may expect, thanks in part to the power of today’s woke generation and the fact that Paul, or Macca as he is cutely called, is an octogenarian Beatle, it will be a lot kinder than what was accorded to him and the rest of the lads back in 1966, or just before they put out the groundbreaking album “Revolver” and faced the anger of the bible belt in connection to Lennon implying they’re “more popular than Jesus.”
Macca appearing at the huge, indoor Philippine Arena will go into record books, and prove that no matter how awful something was, we can let bygones be bygones.
An unpopular opinion should insist that McCartney shouldn’t do it given their collective reaction after the jolting experience to a place Lennon described as “nut houses.” Still, it was also Paul who sang that “when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree,” the answer would be “let it be.”
Back in 2015, a campaign to lure Starr back to the country, led by Ely Buendia of Eraserheads which is hailed as The Beatles of the Philippines, did not pan out. Starr described his group’s Manila ordeal as “the most frightening thing that’s ever happened to me.”
In the meantime, real avid fans and the curious ones may enjoy streaming Let It Be, launched on Disney+ on May 8 — the day in 1970 when it was originally released. This restoration contains footage not seen in the Peter Jackson-treated Get Back docuseries.