On August 14th in music history, one significant event took place in 1965. On this day, the Beatles started a new North American tour with a concert at Shea Stadium in New York City. This concert was a groundbreaking event in rock and roll history for several reasons.
First, the concert set a new record for attendance at a rock concert, with over 55,000 fans packing the stadium. This was a massive number for the time and demonstrated the incredible popularity of the Beatles. The screaming of the fans was so loud that the band could barely hear themselves play, and the sound system was not adequate to handle the volume of the crowd.
Second, the concert was filmed and recorded, making it one of the first rock concerts to be captured in this way. The footage was later used in the 1966 documentary "The Beatles at Shea Stadium," which gave fans who couldn't attend the concert a glimpse of the excitement and energy of a live Beatles performance.
Third, the Shea Stadium concert marked a turning point in the Beatles' career. It was one of their last live performances before they retired from touring to focus on studio work. The concert also demonstrated the band's evolution from a pop group to a more experimental and innovative force in music.
The setlist for the concert included many of the Beatles' biggest hits, such as "Twist and Shout," "She's a Woman," and "I'm Down." The band also played several tracks from their recently released album "Help!", including the title track and "Yesterday."
The Shea Stadium concert remains a landmark event in music history, and its impact can still be felt today. It paved the way for the massive stadium concerts that have become a staple of the music industry, and it cemented the Beatles' status as one of the most influential and important bands of all time.
