More than any other group of musicians, the career of the Beatles can be marked by a series of venues. From the Indra Club in Hamburg where they honed their live sound, to the Cavern in their native Liverpoo,l where they met their manager-to-be Brian Epstein, and finally the roof of the Apple Records headquarters in London, the location of their last live appearance. But on August 15, 1965, the Fab Four made history by playing to more than 55,000 screaming fans at Shea Stadium in New York - smashing the record at the time for the largest concert attendance in history. The show, which took place 45 years ago today at the height of Beatlemania, is rivalled in fame only by Woodstock and redefined the possibilities of the live music experience for years to come.
After arriving at the home of the New York Mets by helicopter, the television host Ed Sullivan announced: "Now, ladies and gentlemen, honoured by their country, decorated by their queen, loved here in America - here are the Beatles!" The opening date of their second US tour saw the Beatles wearing matching brown jackets and playing just 12 songs on a small stage in the centre of the giant circular venue. Made possible by the legendary promoter Sid Bernstein, the concert included opening sets from King Curtis, Cannibal and the Headhunters, Brenda Holloway and Sounds Incorporated. But despite being remembered as a landmark event in the history of popular music, many crowd members would have been completely unable to hear the band.
Footage taken at the concert shows hysterical fans clutching binoculars, crying, screaming and even fainting. Not only was the noise from the predominantly female audience enough to force security guards to cover their ears, but the Beatles themselves admitted they could not hear what they were playing. Being the first concert of its kind, the sound set-up was woefully inadequate. The equipment manufacturer Vox had specially designed amplifiers for the show, but even these were not loud enough, so the venue's house sound system - normally employed to make announcements at baseball games - was used instead.
The audience was confined to the stadium's spectator areas with only the band, their entourage and support staff allowed on the field. Even with 2,000 security staff attempting to contain the crowd, several fans managed to break through the barriers and dash for the stage. John Lennon deemed the show to be so ridiculous that during the song I'm Down, he began playing the keyboard with his elbows. But despite its problems, the Shea Stadium concert set new records, not just for attendance, but for revenue generation, too, and proved that huge outdoor events could be successful. Every stadium show and music festival that exists today is a direct descendent of Shea.
The Beatles followed up the concert with 10 indoor and outdoor shows across North America, including two nights at the now iconic Hollywood Bowl. During the trip the group were also introduced to one of their biggest influences, Elvis Presley, and even jammed with the US singer at his home. And despite the sound and security issues at their first Shea Stadium performance, the group returned the following year for another sold-out show. The Beatles maintained the record for the largest concert attendance until 1971 when the Michigan rockers Grand Funk Railroad sold out the venue in just 72 hours. Today, the record is held by the soul singer Rod Stewart, who played in front of 3.5 million people at Copacabana Beach in Brazil in 1994.
Shea Stadium closed in 2008 after almost five decades of giant live performances. The last artist to play the venue was the US musician Billy Joel, whose two-night stand was dubbed "the last play at Shea". The concerts saw several of pop music's best-known stars take to the stage, but many agreed the most poignant moment was Paul McCartney's guest spot during the close of the second night, playing the Beatles' classic Let it Be.