The Beatles ran onto the field and took to the stage at 9.16pm, to a barrage of deafening screams. Despite new 100-watt amplifiers especially designed for the group by Vox, they were insufficiently loud and The Beatles instead used the in-house PA system.
Shea Stadium was an enormous place. In those days, people were still playing the Astoria Cinema at Finsbury Park. This was the first time that one of those stadiums was used for a rock concert. Vox made special big 100-watt amplifiers for that tour. We went up from the 30-watt amp to the 100-watt amp and it obviously wasn’t enough; we just had the house PA.
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Their set, which was retained throughout the US tour, comprised 12 songs: the group’s truncated version of ‘Twist And Shout’, followed by ‘She’s A Woman’, ‘I Feel Fine’, ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzy’, ‘Ticket To Ride’, ‘Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby’, ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’, ‘Baby’s In Black’, ‘Act Naturally’, ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, ‘Help!’, and ‘I’m Down’. Some other dates on the tour had ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ instead of Act Naturally.
For Shea Stadium’s spectacular finale of ‘I’m Down’, John Lennon used his right elbow to play his Vox organ.
I was putting my foot on it and George couldn’t play for laughing. I was doing it for a laugh. The kids didn’t know what I was doing.Because I did the organ on ‘I’m Down’, I decided to play it on stage for the first time. I didn’t really know what to do, because I felt naked without a guitar, so I was doing all Jerry Lee – I was jumping about and I only played about two bars of it.
It was marvellous. It was the biggest crowd we ever played to, anywhere in the world. It was the biggest live show anybody’s ever done, they told us. And it was fantastic, the most exciting we’ve done. They could almost hear us as well, even though they were making a lot of noise, because the amplification was tremendous.
Nothing really reached us because we were so far away, but we could see all the posters. It’s still the same: up there with the mike, you don’t try to work out what it all means, you forget who you are. Once you plug in and the noise starts, you’re just a group playing anywhere again and you forget that you’re Beatles or what your records are; you’re just singing
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After the concert The Beatles ran back to the Wells Fargo van and were swiftly taken away.
A 50-minute television special on the show, The Beatles At Shea Stadium, was screened for the first time at 8pm on 1 March 1966 on BBC 1 in the UK. Its US debut was from 7.30pm on 10 January 1967. The film began with the concert’s closing song, ‘I’m Down’, and featured the other acts before The Beatles were introduced by Ed Sullivan.
‘She’s A Woman’ and ‘Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby’ were left out of the resulting programme. The sound was also extensively re-recorded, in a secret session which took place in London on 5 January 1966.
The Beatles returned to Shea Stadium during their final tour the following year, on 23 August 1966.
Now it’s quite commonplace for people to play Shea Stadium or Giants Stadium and all those big places, but this was the first time. It seemed like millions of people, but we were ready for it. They obviously felt we were popular enough to fill it.Once you go on stage and you know you’ve filled a place that size, it’s magic; just walls of people. Half the fun was being involved in this gigantic event ourselves. I don’t think we were heard much by the audience. The normal baseball-stadium PA was intended for: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, the next player is…’ But that was handy in that if we were a bit out of tune or didn’t play the right note, nobody noticed. It was just the spirit of the moment. We just did our thing, cheap and cheerful, ran to a waiting limo and sped off.
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Also on this day...
- 2016: Paul McCartney live: Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids
- 2010: Paul McCartney live: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia
- 2009: Paul McCartney live: Piedmont Park, Atlanta
- 1995: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Mesa Amphitheatre, Mesa
- 1992: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Austin Aqua Festival, Austin
- 1989: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Great Woods Centre for the Performing Arts, Mansfield
- 1969: Recording: Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight, The End, Something, Here Comes The Sun
- 1968: Recording, mixing: Rocky Raccoon
- 1966: The Beatles live: DC Stadium, Washington, DC
- 1963: The Beatles live: Odeon Cinema, Llandudno
- 1962: The Beatles live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (evening) – Pete Best’s final show
- 1962: The Beatles live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (lunchtime)
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
The existence of a ticket stub is less certain for this one, but it’s probably the most famous concert my mum ever attended. She dragged her best friend (my godmother) from Philadelphia to New York City to see the concert with her – unwillingly by all accounts, as she was herself more of an Elvis fan and complained of being very bored at Shea.
Interestingly, it wasn’t until reminded recently about the amplification issue that my mum remembered not being able to hear very well. She confirmed that it was indeed extremely hard to hear the lads.
Not to be a nit, but we shouldn’t be calling a baseball field a “pitch”. I sure heard it when I visited England and referred to the “soccer field”!
OK, thanks for that. I’m English, and baseball’s not so popular over here in the UK! Forgive me for not knowing such basic terminology (and sport’s not really my area of expertise anyway).
I was there with my girlfriends I think o the 2nd level. I had the sign JO LOVES JOHN the other sign was a british Flag with a sign for John. I have seen my sign on copies of the shea stadium concert. I still have it. My friends crack up when they see it. I also have my ticket stubbs.
Just imagine how many more thousands would have attended if they’d allowed fans onto the field like they do nowadays for gigs at baseball stadiums?
Have my ticket stub – Sec 31 / Row A / Seat 16 – Gate D – Sun Aug 15, 1965 – $5.65. I was very upset because I really wanted to hear them sing but due to the loud screams could not. I recall Paul trying to quiet the crowd but it was a losing battle. Even so, I’m glad I was there to be part of the experience.
Re: the setlist – I think this was the only time they did Act naturally on the US tour. On other shows that are recorded it’s I wanna be your man as Ringo’s song.
John played his Gibson electric/acoustic on the song I feel fine on the NME gig in April, as well as the shows in Europe 1965, but did not use it for the Blackpool & Ed Sullivan TV shows or the US tour. Still, it was kept on stage, I suppose just in case he wanted to use it. And next time you watch the footage from Shea, don´t miss when John is backing to take a bow after Ticket to ride and George just manages to jump to the side to avoid collision!
Shea was also one of the 1965 US tour shows that had a vast distance between the performers and the audience. The others being Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis and San Diego.
More reflections about this show. They didn´t sing or play very well here so it´s understandable they wanted to fix it for the TV show. The vocals are not very good, they obviously didn´t prepare their voices before the show, and Paul´s microphone didn´t work at all during Act naturally either. I have fixed up and synced the correct original sound recording (including A hard day´s night without the voice-over) to the film and included the extra film bits I have found of the missing two songs (She´s a woman and Everybody´s trying…), as well as two bits from Eight Days A Week: the complete missing intro to Dizzy Miss Lizzie (Hello Paul -Hello John) and Tony Bennet´s film during that song. End result is a complete show with all available bits included. More music, less screams.
And after listening to this show many times, only recently did I hear John bashing the organ after Everybody´s trying to be my baby, for no obvious reason than they were having fun on stage. Oh, and this was the only time Paul introduced Help!, John did it at all the other shows as well as the earlier Blackpool TV show. Strange to think today Help! was only played live twice on TV and at 16 concerts.
I was there… I saw them run on the field… My heart stopped, I’m sure of it. I cried throughout their performance. I think it was because I knew that this was a moment in time that was pure and innocent…and never to be again. I was just so happy to be breathing the same air as John, Paul, George and Ringo.
I was there,way up in the stands everyone screaming Oh what a Night!
The best of times!
I find it absolutely amazing that so many people DO NOT “REALIZE” THE IMPORTANCE of what THE BEATLES did for music. They took us from Be Bop A Lula to Can’t Buy Me Love, and hundreds of songs that made modern music what it is today. They were a fantastic group of 4 guys who gave us all ambition to be who and what matters in life. Songs of peace, love, and caring for one another. Sadly, todays “modern music” promotes hatred, violence, bullets, and so on.
From a 70 year old who is so thankful, THANK YOU BEATLES for the terrific music.
To the remaining BEATLES, Paul and Ringo, please ignore the ignorance of those who could never have your talents, or the courage to do what the FAB FOUR did.
Philip Homan.
A confluence of four souls in the vast universe that changed the world beyond comprehension. They came together and became a force majeur. As important and perhaps more relevant than most pivotal events, because these four humans were the driving force, positive in it’s nature.
Unlike myriad historical “events” that were of war and fear and illness and destruction, these amazing youths that became men in front of the entire world, brought to the world positive change , joy and of course love.
All cultural and sociological “happenings” have ripple effects .
However the ripple effects are more often tragic, negative and grievous.
Not so with the becoming of the “Beatles”.
So much can be said of the gifts they unfolded with their music and sheer phenomena. They brought upon all the world and its’ collective psyche, a cosmic event
One that was well documented and witnessed around most of the world.
Four individuals that had the force and dynamics equal to or greater than entire armies of men ,
Thanks for the shows the music and the lessons , They will go on and on and on, into all time. Bravo.