Liverpool’s Jacaranda Club hosted an emotional listening party for The Beatles‘ ‘Now And Then’ this afternoon (November 2).
READ MORE: Inside ‘Now And Then’: With a little help from AI, The Beatles live again
Fans gathered to listen to the track, the last to feature all four original members, ahead of its premiere at 2pm GMT.
Pictures shared by the club, where The Beatles played their first ever gig, on their Instagram showed many fans in tears as the song was played.
A statement on the page read: “Now and Then, what a beautiful moment! Hundreds gathered at The Jacaranda to hear The Beatles’ last song ‘Now and Then’ for the first time. 23,039 days have passed since The Beatles played their first gig, yet today people stood in the very same venue and listened to new music by the band. Try and tell us magic isn’t real!”
Footage was also shared from inside the venue by local radio station, Radio City News.
Hundreds of people packed into @thejacclub in #Liverpool earlier for a first listen of the last ever new track by @thebeatles, #NowAndThen.
Our regional correspondent @victoriaaglover was there… pic.twitter.com/ujm1k0UhMd
— Radio City News (@RadioCityNews) November 2, 2023
The highly-anticipated project was first teased by Paul McCartney back in June when he confirmed that he was working on a new track with Ringo Starr, which would come together as the “final” song of the band’s discography.
The release stems from a demo tape recorded by late bandmate John Lennon and was completed with the help of AI – which lifted the songwriter’s vocals off the initial recording and allowed the surviving members to work with them.
Since first sharing details of the song, both McCartney and Starr have continued to tease the upcoming project for months. This included the latter revealing that he thought the project was “beautiful”, and later admitting that working on the single was “like having John Lennon back”.
Last night (November 1), a short film was broadcast on The One Show and the band’s YouTube Channel, which documented the history behind the track and how it came together.
The aforementioned poignant 12-minute film was also broadcast as part of a series of programmes on the BBC to celebrate the legacy of The Beatles.
The track has now been marketed as a double A-side with their 1962 debut UK single, ‘Love Me Do’ – combining their first single with their last.
A music video – which will be the first-ever music video directed by Peter Jackson – is also set for release tomorrow (November 3). According to the renowned filmmaker, the visual accompaniment will include new footage of McCartney and Starr, as well as recently unearthed footage of all four members.
Additionally, next week (November 10) will see The Beatles release new expanded editions of ‘1962-1966 (The Red Album)’ and ‘1967-1970 (The Blue Album)’, mixed in stereo and Dolby.
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