Who brought out Shea Stadium‘s biggest crowd in 1965, perhaps in its history? Well, it certainly wasn’t the hapless Mets (with all due respect to Mets fans).
On August 15, 1965, Beatlemania reached on of its true zeniths, as the seminal British rock band The Beatles played in Shea Stadium, the Mets’ home field, for their second US tour. The band would play once more there the next year, and would never play in public again after that tour.
Over 55,000 people packed into Flushing to see the Beatles play on a small stage below center field. The noise was deafening, but not due to the music: the fans’ shouts and screams–as well as the distance of the band from the audience, meant nobody really heard much of anything. It was only when Ed Sullivan released a documentary of the performance that anyone actually heard the setlist.
Furthermore, the Shea concert began a revolution in live music, for both good and ill. Its massive profits proved to promoters that massive outdoor arena shows can indeed be good business. The subsequent decade, particularly into the 1970s, saw the rise of “arena rock” as bands with giant speakers and screaming guitars blasted their way through stadiums and outdoor venues.
However, the “arena rock” phase would often be criticized as formulaic, sterile and commercial. Ironically, it would prove to be the catalyst of a countermovement, punk, that re-captured the indoor rebellious spirit of rock.
Attached is Ed Sullivan’s introduction of the band, and their rendition of “Twist and Shout.” Believe me, be lucky this documentary exists: you would’ve heard nothing but the white noise of screaming adolescents if you were there.
Today’s Document from the National Archives
Mr. D's Neighborhood 
This Day in History 8/15: The Beatles’ 1965 Concert at Shea Stadium
Who brought out Shea Stadium‘s biggest crowd in 1965, perhaps in its history? Well, it certainly wasn’t the hapless Mets (with all due respect to Mets fans).
On August 15, 1965, Beatlemania reached on of its true zeniths, as the seminal British rock band The Beatles played in Shea Stadium, the Mets’ home field, for their second US tour. The band would play once more there the next year, and would never play in public again after that tour.
Over 55,000 people packed into Flushing to see the Beatles play on a small stage below center field. The noise was deafening, but not due to the music: the fans’ shouts and screams–as well as the distance of the band from the audience, meant nobody really heard much of anything. It was only when Ed Sullivan released a documentary of the performance that anyone actually heard the setlist.
Furthermore, the Shea concert began a revolution in live music, for both good and ill. Its massive profits proved to promoters that massive outdoor arena shows can indeed be good business. The subsequent decade, particularly into the 1970s, saw the rise of “arena rock” as bands with giant speakers and screaming guitars blasted their way through stadiums and outdoor venues.
However, the “arena rock” phase would often be criticized as formulaic, sterile and commercial. Ironically, it would prove to be the catalyst of a countermovement, punk, that re-captured the indoor rebellious spirit of rock.
Attached is Ed Sullivan’s introduction of the band, and their rendition of “Twist and Shout.” Believe me, be lucky this documentary exists: you would’ve heard nothing but the white noise of screaming adolescents if you were there.
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