When Beatlemania swept across America in 1964 and again in 1965, the world’s biggest band played almost everywhere. New York. Chicago. Los Angeles. Seattle. Toronto. Even Memphis, amid protests and controversy.
But never Phoenix.
For reasons history has never fully answered, the Beatles never performed a single concert in Arizona during the band’s existence. As fans this month duly note the 60th anniversary of their final tour, the mystery isn’t simply why they missed Phoenix — it’s why Phoenix may have finally become ready for them at precisely the moment they were ready to stop touring forever.