ON Monday, McFly became the first band to play at The Globe in Stockton since Status Quo graced the iconic venue's stage in December 1974.

After the Quo, the Globe became a bingo hall and then fell derelict in 1997, but a £28m restoration has revived this glamorous art deco building, which opened in December 1935.

Its heyday was the mid-1960s when it embraced the Beat generation of screaming teenagers.

The Northern Echo did, too, and its legendary editor, Sir Harold Evans, encouraged young photographer Ian Wright to capture the new wave of Beat bands, like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and the new icons, like Cliff Richard and Gene Pitney, as they took to the stage.

However, most amazingly, staff at The Globe allowed Ian to get backstage and capture some extraordinary, candid pictures. Those pictures have graced Memories in the past, and now, framed, they hang on the walls of the restored venue. They are also due to feature in a book to be published later this year.

To commemorate The Globe's reopening, Ian has sent Memories from his home in Las Vegas some hitherto unseen pictures of backstage scenes and crowd shots from 1964 to 1966. These 55-year-old images really do provide a striking contrast to the scenes from the McFly show, and not just because McFly were captured in colour.

Should you recognise yourself – and the last time we published a set of these images, a reader spotted herself screaming her head off to the Beatles – we'd love to hear from you. Please email chris.lloyd@nne.co.uk https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/18750001.raising-curtain-history-globe-stockton/