Minnesota man remembers meeting the Beatles before 1965 concert

The Brief

• On August 21, 1965, the Beatles came to Minnesota to perform at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington.

• The audience was so loud that many people couldn’t hear the band at the concert.

• Two Minnesotans remember meeting the Beatles face to face 60 years ago.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (FOX 9) – Sixty years ago, the Beatles came to The Land of 10,000 Lakes to perform at the Metropolitan Stadium, which was demolished in the 80s, and the site became home to the Mall of America in the 90s. On Sunday, the Mall of America hosted a celebration of the historic concert.

Celebration at Mall of America

What we know

Four men dressed up as John, Paul, George, and Ringo. All the hits were played by the Beatles cover band at MOA. FOX 9 talked to two men who remember what that day was like when the Beatles were in Bloomington 60 years ago.

“Noise, noise, and more noise. You could hardly hear anything if you were in the audience,” said Ron Butwin, who was at the Beatles concert.

Local perspective

Butwin recalls when Beatlemania came to Bloomington, the audience was louder than the band. Before the concert, he gave George Harrison a gift at a press conference.

“As we started walking to George Harrison to present him with the guitar he got. It was like a little kid in a candy store,” said Butwin.

Then came a memory for a lifetime.

“I opened it up carefully, and it was a beautiful letter from George, thanking me and just giving me some fun information, and then signed by him,” said Butwin.

Channel 9 connection to the Beatles

The backstory

Bob Pratt went with his father, Ken Pratt, a former photographer at KMSP, to cover the Beatles coming to Minnesota. Bob was expecting to see the Beatles from where the press was standing. Until he and his father got invited to the Twins’ clubhouse. Ten-year-old Bob couldn’t believe it.

“I shook hands with all four of them. Ringo was first, Paul was second, John was third, and George was fourth. And then I just told him, I love your music,” said Bob Pratt.

Dig deeper

He even had this moment with the legendary John Lennon.

“John Lennon asked me. He said, ‘Did you grow up here in Minnesota?’ And I said, ‘born and raised.’ He goes, ‘maybe you can help me with some of the pronunciations of the ball players’ names,'” said Pratt.

The name John was asking Bob about was Zoilo Verasalles. But get this, he knew who Harmon Killebrew was. Both gentlemen got to watch the concert from the dugout 60 years ago.

What’s next

Speaking of concerts, Paul McCartney will be performing at U.S. Bank Stadium in October.