Sponsored by Shea Stadium Remembered: The Mets, the Jets and Beatlemania
For non-Mets—and non-Jets fans—the most memorable day at Shea Stadium occurred 54 years ago. The Beatles at Shea ushered in the era of the stadium show that remains the best way for the masses to see their favorite bands in person and throw lots of money their way at the same time. John, Paul, George, and Ringo saw the top of the mountain at Shea. It’s a dizzying height and hard to stay up there long. They played just over half an hour at their iconic show, and banged out a dozen songs that could not hear because of the incessant screaming. Don’t take my word for it—Rolling Stone, the arbiter of such things, called it the best there ever was, too.
Check out the set list (complete with songwriter, if not Lennon/McCartney):
- “Twist and Shout” (Phil Medley, Bert Russell)
- “She’s a Woman”
- “I Feel Fine”
- “Dizzy Miss Lizzy” (Larry Williams)
- “Ticket to Ride”
- “Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby” (Carl Perkins)
- “Can’t Buy Me Love”
- “Baby’s in Black”
- “Act Naturally” (Voni Morrison, Johnny Russell)
- “A Hard Day’s Night”
- “Help!”
- “I’m Down”
The Beatles returned to Shea for an encore a year later, August 23, 1966. It turned out to be one of their final shows. They stopped performing for audiences, but created some of their greatest work until the inevitable breakup in 1969, just when Shea reached a fever pitch for something completely foreign: Winning baseball!