The Beatles at Shea Stadium, August 15, 1965, 57th Anniversary
The Beatles’ 15 August 1965, concert at Shea Stadium in New York City, the highlight of the group’s 1965 tour.
The Beatles staged their second concert tour of the United States (with one date in Canada) in the late summer of 1965. At the peak of American Beatlemania, they played a mixture of outdoor stadiums and indoor arenas, with historic concerts at Shea Stadium in New York and the Hollywood Bowl. The Beatles played for just 30 minutes at each show,
The attendance of which was 55,600, the largest Beatles concert up to that time, The Beatles arrived by a helicopter ride from Manhattan to Flushing Meadows.
The concert had been presented by promoter Sid Bernstein. Television host Ed Sullivan introduced the band when they took the stage: “Now, ladies and gentlemen, honored by their country, decorated by their Queen, and loved here in America, here are The Beatles!”
The concert itself was a milestone in popular musical history as the first major stadium concert.
The Beatles 1965 US tour
31 August 1965
No. of shows: 16
The Beatles performed in front of a record crowd of 55,000 fans and 2,000 security guards. It grossed $304,000, of which The Beatles’ share was $160,000.
$160,000 is over 2.3mil today.
After the tour’s conclusion, the Beatles took a six-week break before reconvening in mid-October to record the album Rubber Soul.
In 2008, Paul McCartney played the last concert at Shea Stadium with Billy Joel before the stadium was closed. The concert was documented in the film The Last Play at Shea.
Set List
- “Twist and Shout” (Phil Medley, Bert Russell)
- “She’s a Woman” (not included in film. audio added to the end credits of 2016 release.)
- “I Feel Fine”
- “Dizzy Miss Lizzy” (Larry Williams)
- “Ticket to Ride”
- “Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby” (Carl Perkins) (not included in film)
- “Can’t Buy Me Love”
- “Baby’s in Black”
- “Act Naturally” (Voni Morrison, Johnny Russell)
- “A Hard Day’s Night”
- “Help!”
- “I’m Down”
Tour dates
Instruments and equipment:
Instruments the Beatles had on the tour, shown here for each member of the group.
John Lennon
• 1964 Rickenbacker 325 semi-hollow electric guitar
• 1964 Gibson J-160E acoustic/electric guitar (used as a back-up)
• Vox Continental electric organ[nb 3]
Paul McCartney
• 1962 Hofner Violin hollow body bass
• 1961 Hofner Violin hollow body bass (used as a backup)
George Harrison
• 1963 Gretsch Tennessean hollowbody electric guitar
• 1963 Rickenbacker 360/12 thinline electric guitar
• 1963 Gretsch Country Gentleman hollowbody electric guitar (used as a backup)
Ringo Starr
• Ludwig 22-inch-bass 4-piece drum kit
• Number 5 drop-T logo bass drum head
For more Beatles insight watch/listen to “The Beatles Beginning to the End factoids” video and Podcast by Morgan Rees
Hear about The Beatles being turned down by Decca Records, Debut records, Gold Albums, Dogs, locations, Chords, BBC, The Roof final performance, Sgt. Pepper and White album covers, Designers, Clapton, White album and much more.
VIDEO on Youtube (HD):
https://youtu.be/GzGoieAwSU0
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/morgan-rees-podcasts/id1491812004?i=1000505875487
