47th Anniversary of the Beatles' Performance at Shea Stadium

      Today is the 47th anniversary of the Beatles' performance at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York. On August 15, 1965, the Beatles performed to a record-breaking audience of 55,600 in the middle of a baseball diamond. The legendary concert, the first of its kind for a pop group, saw the peak of the superstardom of the band. The Beatles, already worn out from incessant touring during the past two to three years, have cited the Shea Stadium concert as one of the main reasons why they were so eager to stop the touring schedule, especially to the United States. Paul has said in numerous interviews, specifically The Beatles Anthology that if you were to really look hard at the footage of the performance, that you can seen John "crack" a bit. I mean, it's a bit weird when he starts playing the keyboard with his elbow during Paul's number, "I'm Down."
       Despite this, the concert remains one of the lasting testaments to the Beatles' extraordinary performance skills. Even though virtually 55, 600 teenage girls were screaming the entire duration of the concert, they never lapsed in the quality of their performance.
        In addition, Shea Stadium also can be pointed to the advancement (somewhat) of the Civil Rights Movement that was currently taking place in the United States. Unlike their homeland of England, segregation between African Americans and white Americans was still implemented strongly in the US. When the Beatles were told that they were to play to a segregated audience, they refused. It's a stretch to say that the Beatles are responsible for furthering the Civil Rights Movement, which was already well under way in the late 1940s, but the fact that the Beatles were so influential in the superstardom surrounding them adds to the significance of this concert.
       Unfortunately, Shea Stadium no longer exists. It was replaced rather recently. But, in 2009, Paul performed his "Good Evening New York City" concert in the same place, his first time since he played with his three friends in 1965.