Pete Best was in the audience and this is what he told me: "Rory was always a great showman, and extrovert, and the funny thing was he had this terrible stutter offstage, but onstage he was okay. At the stadium show where I saw him for the first time, he created such an impression.
"The stadium was a second home to me. I'd been there as a kid watching the boxing bouts, what with my Dad being a promoter, but it was quite different to be sitting watching a rock show going on in the ring.
"At this show the music started, Storm was announced, the Hurricanes came on stage. The music kept going on and on. Pow! Pow! Pow! But where the hell was Rory! It kept on going. Finally, he picked his moment and walked down from the back of the half where the boxers used to come from. In his gold lame suit, with that bond hair of his, he cut a very impressive figure - the classic showman.
"He took his time walking down; the crowd's adulation meant he had to go slowly. Then he jumped on stage and went into his number.
"I was sitting there and I thought to myself, 'That's great.' He basically stole the show with his entrance."
Incidentally, there is an American film planned about Rory. Does anyone know about it?