60 years ago today , The Beatles played the famous Shea Stadium Concert .......... and they said it wouldn't last folks . Thanks Ed
60 Years ago today ( 8-15-1965 ) ...who'da thought
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Greg Connor
Gretschie
It’s a short life my friend. That doesn’t seem like 60 years ago.
Old Rookie
Gretschie
My first concert, ever (6 days later) at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, MN. My dad got my brother and me tickets ($4.50 each), and we each brought a friend. Mom and Dad drove us there, and waited outside the venue for us.
Edison
Country Gent
Just passed the 48th anniversary of my first rock concert (Aug 13th 1977). The Superbowl of Rock: 4 at Chicago's Soldier Field (pre mothership overhaul).
UFO ended up being the days' opening band. Derringer was firing on all cylinders.
Hella day that was.
The years, they do fly.
I can’t imagine the sound quality of that concert, especially with the deafening roar of screaming fans. But I would take a time machine if I could, I would just bring my earplugs.
I turn 60 in a couple of weeks.
I turn 60 in a couple of weeks.
And it's the anniversary of Woodstock---1969
cielski
Senior Gretsch-Talker
The Beatles only lasted five years after that concert.
Both Shea Stadium and Woodstock used giant Altec PA cabs, tube amps, and mono 5 channel mixers. PA technology had another 5-10 years before it started getting better.
Both Shea Stadium and Woodstock used giant Altec PA cabs, tube amps, and mono 5 channel mixers. PA technology had another 5-10 years before it started getting better.
Viper
Gretschie
Yeah. Sometimes it’s hard to remember when the PA only had a few mic inputs. The first band I was in had four inputs on the head. Hardly anyone mic’d guitar cabinets in those days. The PAs were too limited for anything but vocal mics. Huge guitar amps were all the rage while bands waited for technology to catch up with the scale of concerts.
The 16 channel board I use for a semi-acoustic band that plays western swing and jump tunes would have seemed like a space age miracle in 1965.
I was just 17 (???) and went to see/hear them in Chicago August 12, 1966. From my seat, I neither saw nor heard them at ALL! What a mess........It was purely screaming from my position. Oh well, it didn't cost much.
I started realizing by buying an album, I would hear whomever well and be able to learn all the parts on an album. I did see/hear a lot of groups from that point on....
My first concert was the Beach Boys - July 24, 1964 Arie Crown Theater, Chicago, (supported by Eddie Hodges, Jimmy Griffin, and Lynn Easton & The Kingsmen)
It was years later that I learned there were support acts for the Beatles! - for the entire tour were The Remains, Bobby Hebb, The Cyrkle, and The Ronettes.
I started realizing by buying an album, I would hear whomever well and be able to learn all the parts on an album. I did see/hear a lot of groups from that point on....
My first concert was the Beach Boys - July 24, 1964 Arie Crown Theater, Chicago, (supported by Eddie Hodges, Jimmy Griffin, and Lynn Easton & The Kingsmen)
It was years later that I learned there were support acts for the Beatles! - for the entire tour were The Remains, Bobby Hebb, The Cyrkle, and The Ronettes.
cielski
Senior Gretsch-Talker
I've still got a couple of 4 channel Shure mixers, and a pair of A7-500 speaker cabs. State of the art in '65. I helped to modernize our theaters. We went with Meyer speaker systems and Crown amps, and an 88 channel Midas mixing desk.
Back in the day, we'd have killed for a 12 channel Mackie board and a pair of powered speakers.
First concert? Aside from local garage bands, the first big gig I went to was "Gene Pitney's Cavalcade of Stars". 28 bands in 4 hours.
Viper
Gretschie
The road case with power amps in it (before Class D) was known to my bandmates as the “cube of pain.” These days I can fit a whole PA big enough for outdoor gigs into a Subaru Outback. The 70-year-old me appreciates the light weight and versatility of modern gear.
I can’t believe that we used to carry Voice of the Theater speakers around in an old school bus.
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cielski
Senior Gretsch-Talker
Remember when you plugged a mike into the extra channel on your amp if you wanted to sing? A 50 watt Bogen mixer and a pair of Shure columns made it so much better. I was happy to get the Altec Voice cabs because they were so much more efficient. Took a pickup truck to move them, tho.
A large rolling dimmer rack is easily a ton. Then, add 45"X 45" cases full of wire (0000 feeders, or 1-1/2" dia. multicables for lighting rigs that were well over 1 pound per foot and were 400'-500' long.) Lighting trusses preloaded with lights and cables. Multiple sound boards---FOH and monitors. Much fun. It's not just amp racks---it's how many amp racks and speaker clusters they'd carry. Thousand-foot-long mike snakes. For load ins, we'd always check to see how many semis they were travelling with. Often, there'd be a semi just for merch. Brooks & Dunn had one trailer just for the little sprint cars they tooled around in the parking lot before shows. Multiple tour busses all needing shore power. I still cringe when I see a Prevost bus on the highway. Check out the Dire Straits video of "Heavy Fuel" with Randy Quaid as an inept roadie.
I enjoyed the shows, hated the load ins and outs. Don't miss that part at all.
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MrWookiee
Country Gent
I disremember the exact number of buses & semi-trucks emblazoned with "Queen with Adam Lambert" outside the Seattle venue during their first tour, but it was something like 17. That blew my mind! The show was good too.
cielski
Senior Gretsch-Talker
And people wonder why concert tickets cost so much.
Viper
Gretschie
T
There are two kinds of sound men: Those who need a forklift, and those who don’t. By the way, for something like a backyard party gig I still plug a mic into the extra channel on my Deluxe Reverb or Quilter.
Memphis Soul
Gretschie
My first concert was KISS in 78 when I was 11 years old. I still can’t believe my mom let us go or that my older cousins agreed to take me and my little brother. Was born a little to late to see the Beatles.
cielski
Senior Gretsch-Talker
There are two kinds of sound men: those that have back problems, and those that will have them.
In the Rutles documentary they played at Che Stadium, “named after the famous guerilla leader Che Stadium.”
(How does my iPad not know the word guerilla? It was flagged as a misspelling.)
(How does my iPad not know the word guerilla? It was flagged as a misspelling.)
cielski
Senior Gretsch-Talker
Think of autocorrect as a well intentioned, but very drunk, little man that lives in your computer.
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Getting back to the Beatles---
I read an article today that opined that one reason for the Beatles' original success and the music explosion of the early '60s was as response to the horror of the Kennedy assassination. It was a way for the world to feel better afterwards. Life goes on.
Scott Fraser
Country Gent
I was given a pair of A7 500s back in the 80s. I used them for a couple years maybe, and ended up leaving them at a gig somewhere. Good riddance.
