Paul McCartney Brings Beatles-Heavy Show To Citi Field

If you grew up in the hysteria and bedlam that was Beatlemania,  you no doubt remember their concert at New York’s Shea Stadium in 1965. First stadium concert ever. Over 55,000 in attendance. $304,000 in revenue. Those were all record-breaking stats, yet the actual show could barely be heard because, well, no one knew how to prepare for projecting sound for 55,000 people in a stadium; the boys played through the PA system and even they could not hear themselves.

If you grew up in the hysteria and bedlam that was Beatlemania,  you no doubt remember their concert at New York’s Shea Stadium in 1965. First stadium concert ever. Over 55,000 in attendance. $304, 000 in revenue. Those were all record-breaking stats, yet the actual show could barely be heard because, well, no one knew how to prepare for projecting sound for 55,000 people in a stadium; the boys played through the PA system and even they could not hear themselves.

44 years after this landmark event, Shea Stadium has been torn down and stadium shows are the norm for top touring artists. How things change. But on July 17, the 67 year old Paul McCartney christened Citi Field, Shea’s replacement, with a rollicking, sold-out concert that harkened back to the days of Beatlemania, but with better sound quality.

An appreciative McCartney told the screaming crowd on Friday, “These occasions are so cool. I’m just going to take a sec to soak it all in.”

McCartney opened the show with the Beatles’ “Drive My Car.” He followed this with a few songs off his new Fireman album and some Wings hits. But then, it was back to the Fab Four and their classics; the selection ranged from the lively “Day Tripper” to the George Harrison-penned “Something” to the very emotional “A Day in the Life.” A pyrotechnic-backed performance of McCartney’s James Bond theme “Live and Let Die” and a very somber solo performance of the John Lennon tribute, “Here Today” were also show highlights.

The last time McCartney performed at Shea Stadium, it was in 2008 as a guest during Billy Joel’s concert, which was the final performance at Shea. In a role-reversal of that historic show, Joel appeared at Citi Field to accompany McCartney for “I Saw Her Standing There.”

“I’m Down,” a single off of “Help!,” was the Beatles’ typical closer for concerts and was the only song performed at the Beatles’ Shea Stadium show and on Friday night. Check them both out here.