Tickets went on sale at the Stadium not long after the concert's formal announcement, and on the first day of sale an estimated 2,500 fans waited for their chance to purchase a seat. Within a few hours, ten thousand tickets were gone. Mail orders received in the following weeks, fulfilled in excess of another ten thousand requests for seats, but the show was not sold out.

The Hotel Georgia had long been identified as the location of The Beatles' temporary residence in Vancouver. The Lord Stanley and Lord Nelson suites were reserved for their use the night of their arrival and during the day in the hours leading up to the show. As the big day approached, barricades and barbed wire went up all around the stately hotel in preparation for the onslaught. Shortly before their arrival, Brian Epstein decided instead to stay the night in Seattle and fly the next day to Vancouver. As it turns out, the extensive preparations made by the hotel went unexercised. The hotel and an estimated 4,000 fans assembled outside on the 22nd of August, were unintentionally bypassed by an error in The Beatles' departure from Seattle.

A simple error in customs clearance protocol forced The Beatles' aircraft to return to Sea-Tac airport after it had already departed. The Beatles' endured two takeoffs, one at 4:10 p.m. and another at 5:12 p.m. before heading for Canada. Once landed, Brian Epstein decided against proceeding to the Hotel Georgia for the remaining time before the evening's performance. The motorcade instead took an impromptu tour of the city, making a brief stop for food before heading to the Stadium and Pacific National Exhibition fairgrounds.

Before the evening's performance, The Beatles once again fielded a barrage of questions. The conference was hastily moved from the Hotel Georgia to Empire Stadium because of Brian Epstein's change in plans. Eighty-nine reporters jammed into a small room for the chance to ask The Beatles much of the same questions asked earlier in the tour. The flight's delay, plus the need to stop for food caused the Beatles to be 40 minutes late for the press conference.

The Stadium had been outfitted with four rows of four-foot high metal barriers to prevent fans from reaching The Beatles, and two hundred security personnel were on hand to manage things. At 8:14 p.m. things got under way with the Bill Black Combo taking the stage first.

As soon as The Beatles were announced at 9:23p.m.by Red Robinson of CFUN, several thousand fans rushed toward the stage, protected by 80 policemen and suddenly insignificant looking barriers. Outside, fans without tickets were launching an assault of their own against the gates of the stadium. Acting as a human battering ram, they succeeded in flattening the twelve-foot high gate at the northwest end of the stadium, with several people entering before police rushed in to resurrect and reinforce the gate. Officials were clearly alarmed as they watched the crowd whip itself into a frenzy.

As more policemen joined the ranks on the front lines in front of the stage, the floodlights in the stadium were illuminated several times to warn the fans to calm down.

Perhaps over fear for everyone's safety including their own, the Beatles' performance went a bit more quickly than usual. As soon as they completed their last number, they made a mad dash to three limousines. The motorcade, accompanied by police motorcycle escort, rushed through the southeast gate and continued straight to the airport, where the chartered Electra waited to transport them to Los Angeles. At 11:40 p.m. the aircraft took off.