What were the biggest concerts The Beatles ever played?
The Beatles had started by playing church halls, coffee halls, and even private homes. Their Ed Sullivan appearance in February 1964 opened a huge new market. This was now only confined by the size of the concert venues available.
Sid Bernstein booked Carnegie Hall for two nights, but there was enough demand to sell out concerts for several months. Large outdoor venues became the most lucrative option, even though they were not designed for live music.
1. May 15th, 1965 - Shea Stadium
Officially, the opening concert of The Beatles' 1965 US tour at Shea Stadium, New York, on the 15th August was the largest they would ever do in terms of box office returns. 55,000 tickets sold out in seventeen minutes for the first time a major sports arena was used as a music venue.
The Beatles returned to Shea Stadium in August 1966, but ironically, the main news story was that ticket sales were down to 45,000. This was largely due to much higher ticket prices and a growing perception that sound quality was poor in the larger venues.
2. July 4th, 1966, Rizal Stadium, Manila
On their world tours, The Beatles did play to bigger crowds, though these were not entirely made up of paying customers. In July 1966, they were booked to play two gigs in the Philippines, at the Rizal Stadium, Manila.
They were told that 30,000 tickets had been sold for the afternoon show and 50,000 for the second.
To their horror, however, they discovered that these figures did not remotely reflect the numbers packed into the stadium. As George puts it in Anthology:
To their horror, however, they discovered that these figures did not remotely reflect the numbers packed into the stadium. As George puts it in Anthology:
...when we got there it was like the Monterrey Pop Festival. There were about 200,000 people on the site.
