In the spring of 1964, eight weeks after the Beatles first arrived in America, another music phenomenon was set to occur in the twin city mill towns of Lewiston-Auburn, Maine.

What started out as a battle of the bands to benefit the city’s Police Athletic League unexpectedly turned into a weekly event known as the PAL HOP. Several New England groups would battle it out every Friday night, attracting nearly 2,000 kids who came to dance and enjoy live music. For more than three years, until a riot abruptly ended the shows, the PAL HOP was the nucleus of one of the largest garage band scenes in the country.

Dozens of these groups cut their own records. Most of them found the road from Maine to the Top 40 marred with challenges and disappointment. Today, some of that music is being re-discovered.

PAL HOP DAYS is the story of New England’s answer to Liverpool, and six groups that reunited more than forty years later for one unforgettable concert.