More popular than Jesus a minor panic when a firecracker was set off on stage during the evening performance, which led the group to believe they were the target of gunfire. The Beatles hated the tour, partly due to the controversy and adverse reaction from Lennon's comments, and were unhappy about Epstein continuing to organise live performances that were increasingly at odds with their studio work. The controversy had also overshadowed the US release of their 1966 album "Revolver", which the band considered to be their best and most mature musical statement up to that point. Following the tour, Harrison seriously contemplated leaving the
Evening Standard Associated Newspapers bought out the remaining stake, turning it into "The Standard". In 1987 the "Evening News" was briefly revived to compete with Robert Maxwell's "London Daily News", but was reabsorbed into "The Standard" later that year, after the collapse of Maxwell's paper. In 1988 the "Evening Standard" included the by-line "Incorporating the 'Evening News'", which remained until the paper's sale in 2009. On 21 January 2009, the Russian businessman and former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev and his son Evgeny Lebedev, owners of "The Independent", agreed to purchase control of the newspaper at £1 for 64 percent ownership. A few