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Whatever Happened to the Hotel Where the Beatles Stayed?

It was 50 years ago today that the Beatles played their first concert in Boston before about 14,000 at the old Boston Garden (tickets were $4.50). It would turn out to be one of only two shows the Fab Four performed in the city; the second was at Suffolk Downs shortly before they stopped touring in late 1966.

Prior to that first concert, the group stayed at a hotel connected to the Garden called the Madison, which was duly infiltrated by hundreds of screaming fans. It was also there that the Beatles held court during a press conference on Sept. 12, 1964 (YouTube-d above), initially speaking in Southern accents as they'd just arrived from a gig at the Gator Bowl in Florida.

According to a UPI report, the Madison stopped accepting guests in 1976, "but its imposing presence was a constant reminder of the days when trains brought visitors from all corners of the country to North Station, which was connected to the Madison by a walkway."

A "perfect implosion" made quick work of that, reducing the half-century-old Art Deco inn to a heap of rubble in May 1983 (as you can see from the YouTube below). It was replaced by the Tip O'Neill Federal Building.