55 Years Ago: 1965: The Beatles performed at Shea Stadium

On August 15, 1965, The Beatles performed at Shea Stadium in New York City to a crowd of around 60,000 people. This was the beginning of something that would become known as "arena rock" or "stadium rock" - loud rock music played to huge crowds of people in arenas, stadiums, and very large venues. Had any band of any type in all of history ever played to a crowd this large before? Certainly not to a crowd of crying and sobbing young women in hysterics. 

The music world was changing fast in the 60's. Just four years after this Beatles concert in New York City, on the exact same date, August 15th, the Woodstock Festival began a little further north, in Bethel, New York. However, the concert at Woodstock was much bigger than The Beatles concert at Shea Stadium. Woodstock was a concert in a field out in the country to a crowd of 500,000 people. Rock music was already changing, and even the concert goers changed. Woodstock wasn't filled with a bunch of young teenage girls who were sobbing and screaming. 

To see more of The Beatles live performance at Shea Stadium, here they are: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pCxEf--Bm8   Thank you to jedaimanko  for posting these live Beatles performances on YouTube! Click on their idea to see even more videos!

I wonder how many lucky young teenage girls who got to see The Beatles perform at Shea Stadium as 13 year olds got to go to Woodstock exactly four years later, as 17 year olds. What an excellent time period to be a teenager! From The Beatles to Jimi Henrix, The Who, Janis Joplin, Canned Heat, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Richie Havens, Country Joe McDonald, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie... the list goes on and on of the great music that happened over the next four years that people were lucky to hear LIVE in 1969. And let us not forget Crosby, Stills, Nash &Young who were new on the live music scene at the Woodstock Festival. What a great band, and what a great place to perform live. Their performance at Woodstock was their second live performance ever. 

August 15th is an important day in music history. In the 60's it seemed to be a day of music magic. Although the music ROCKED, there was also such a strong desire for peace in those years, and I think that played a part in great music. 

Out of curiosity, I looked up the Billboard Hot 100 to see what the number one song is right now in America on August 15, 2010. It's called "Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem and Rihanna. I found a link to a live performance to the song that is number one today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46eac7tmXVg

Before even hearing the music, you'll notice the backdrop looks very different from what you'd see in the 60's. You see two guns. 

Yes, music has definitely changed since the 60's. 

I wondered what song was number one 25 years ago, on August 15, 1985. I looked it up at the Billboard site and discovered it was "Shout" by Tears for Fears. Here they are performing "Shout" live: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNcHjGQ6QlA

The writer of this song, Roland Orzabal (also the lead singer of this song) said, "It's a song about making a noise about things that politically or socially disturb you. For instance, nuclear weapons...".

Sixteen years had passed since Woodstock when the song "Shout" was written, and, although it sounds different musically from the songs of 1969, the message is one that would have been appreciated at Woodstock. 

Is the top song in America today about political awareness? Is it about peace? Well, maybe look at the Eminem YouTube video to decide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uelHwf8o7_U&feature=av2e