20 things you didn't know about The Beatles' historic Shea Stadium concert

15 August 2025, 11:54 | Updated: 15 August 2025, 12:58

On 15th August 1965, The Beatles performed a one-off show at New York's Shea Stadium. This huge event ushered in the era of the stadium gig - the enormous events that have become a fixture of pop and rock tours in the six decades since the Fab Four led the way.

1. The Shea Stadium show marked the beginning of The Beatles' second North American tour

   The early part of 1965 had seen the Fab Four make their second feature film, Help!, and its accompanying album. They then set out on a European tour in June and July of 1965, taking in France, Italy, Spain and a one-off show in Blackpool. The North American tour started at Shea Stadium, then stopped off in Toronto, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago, Minneapolis, Portland, San Diego and Los Angeles, before winding up with two shows in San Francisco.

   

2. Shea Stadium had been open barely a year when The Beatles played

   The venue was officially opened on 17th April 1964, after two years of construction. It was named after William A. Shea, a local businessman who'd done much to keep baseball popular in the City of New York.

   

3. It was The Beatles' biggest single crowd - and technically the first ever stadium concert

   The audience at Shea Stadium was an estimated 55,600 people. For comparison, Wembley Stadium's current capacity is officially 90,000, while Edinburgh's Murrayfield is 67,000.

   

4. The box office takings were $304,000

   That's according to promoter Sid Bernstein. "The greatest gross ever in the history of show business," he later claimed.

5. Prices for tickets to see The Beatles at Shea Stadium started at $4.50 and went all the way up to $5.75

   

6. The Beatles earned $160,000 for their performance

   Someone has worked out that this equals $100 earned for each second the band were on stage!

   

7. The audience screamed throughout The Beatles' performance, as usual

   At the time, George Harrison said of the Shea Stadium show: "It was terrifying at first when we saw the crowds, but I don't think I have ever felt so exhilarated in all my life. It was unbelievable that that many people wanted to see us. Even though we are used to big crowds, this surprised us."

   "It just got [to be] a joke," Lennon said of the gig in 1972. "You can see it in the film. George and I aren't even bothering playing half the chords and we were just messing about. There wasn't enough in it for us musically and we were basically musicians. As an event and as a happening it was fantastic and we enjoyed it, but as far as music was concerned it was nowhere."

   

8. The Beatles had planned to arrive in Shea Stadium by helicopter

   The New York authorities put a stop to that plan, however, although they did make some of the jouney to the venue by copter. They left the Warwick Hotel in Midtown Manhattan by limo, which took them to a heliport. The copter then took The Beatles on a sight-seeing trip of New York, as depicted in the official film of the event, which dropped them on the roof of the World's Fair building in Queens. The group were then taken to the Stadium in a specially-armoured Wells Fargo van!

9. There were no less than FOUR support acts

   The bill for the Beatles show included: Brenda Holloway and the King Curtis Band, Cannibal & The Headhunters, Sounds Incorporated and the Young Rascals, a band linked to promoter Sid Bernstein.

   

10. Marvin Gaye showed up! But he didn't play

    The Motown legend was introduced to the huge audience, but didn't perform.

11. America's biggest TV host introduced The Beatles onstage

    Ed Sullivan announced The Beatles by saying: "Now, ladies and gentlemen, honoured by their country, decorated by their Queen, loved here in America, here are The Beatles!"

    

    The Beatles at Shea Stadium

12. There was no real PA system in the stadium

    Although Vox had specially designed 100-watt amplifiers for The Beatles in 1965, Paul McCartney remembers that the sound of the group was boosted through the PA system in the stadium which was used by the baseball announcers - hardly the most hi-fi sound.

    Despite this, John later said: "They could almost hear us as well, even though they were making a lot of noise, 'cos the amplification was very good. The well-known numbers they could pick out."

    

13. The Beatles played for only around 30 minutes

14. This is what the Beatles played at Shea Stadium

    The Beatles at Shea Stadium, 15th August 1965 setlist:

    • Twist And Shout (from the album Please Please Me, 1963)
    • She’s A Woman (b-side, 1964)
    • I Feel Fine (single, 1964)
    • Dizzy Miss Lizzy (from the album Help!, 1965)
    • Ticket To Ride (single and from the album Help!, 1965)
    • Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby (from the album Beatles For Sale, 1964)
    • Can’t Buy Me Love (single and from the album A Hard Day's Night, 1964)
    • Baby’s In Black (from the album Beatles For Sale, 1964)
    • Act Naturally (from the album Help! 1965)
    • A Hard Day’s Night (single and album track, 1964)
    • Help! (single and album track, 1965)
    • I’m Down (b-side, 1965)

    

15. The Shea Stadium show ended with a b-side!

    The band ended their Shea Stadium a live debut performance of I'm Down, a Lennon-McCartney song that had been the b-side of the single Help!, released a month before the show.

    Lennon recalled at the time that he hammed it up somewhat onstage for the finale. "We did I'm Down," he remembered, "and because I did the organ part on the record, I decided to play it on stage for the first time. I didn't know what to do because I felt naked without a guitar and George couldn't play for laughing."

    Ringo Starr later recalled for The Beatles Anthology: "I feel that on that show John cracked up... Not mentally ill, but he just got crazy, playing the piano with his elbows."

    

    The Beatles at Shea Stadium - I’m Down (SD Remastered Snippets)

16. Fourteen cameras filmed the event

    The final product was shown on BBC-1 on Tuesday 1st March 1966 at 8pm. The songs She’s A Woman and Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby were left out of the setlist. The film was gven a cinema release in the USA.

17. The Beatles "sweetened" the tracks for the film

    The four musicians convened at CTS Studios in London to re-record some instrumental parts that were rendered inaudible by the incessant screaming and to completely re-record I Feel Fine and Help!

    

18. It wasn't the only time The Beatles played Shea Stadium

    The Fab Four returned to the New York venue a year later on 23rd August 1966 to perform at Shea once more, but 11,000 seats were left unsold, leading to some commentators to claim The Beatles were washed up!

    

19. Billy Joel was the last musical artist to perform at the stadium, in July 2008.

    Shea Stadium continued to be used as a concert event throughout the rest of its history, hosting the "Summer Festival For Peace" in 1970 and the Newport Jazz Festival in 1973 with Stevie Wonder and Roberta Flack. Other gigs at Shea included The Clash (1982), The Who (1982), The Police (1983, with R.E.M. as support!), Simon & Garfunkel (1983), The Rolling Stones (1989), Elton John (1992) and Bruce Springsteen (2003).

    

20. Shea Stadium was demolished in 2009 to make way for the new Citi Field Stadium

    On the 60th anniversary of The Beatles' historic show, the New York Mets will remember the event when they host the Seattle Mariners for a special Beatles night at Citi Field on Friday 15th August!