Video: '1965 The Beatles The Shea Stadium Concert Perfomance Show (ABC TV)'

(Sunday, August 15, 1965, 9:16 p.m. EDT) — The Beatles launched their 1965 North American tour tonight before a record crowd of 55,600 at Shea Stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, turning the New York Mets’ home field into a deafening showcase of “Beatlemania” at its peak.

Video: 'The.Beatles.Live.at.Shea.Stadium.1965'

The audience, the largest ever to attend a rock ‘n’ roll concert, screamed so loudly that security guards were seen covering their ears as John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr ran onto the field.

The noise was so intense that neither the band — nor much of the crowd — could hear the music.

Video: 'The Beatles Live At Shea Stadium 1965 (2023 Remix)'

Fans, many of them teenagers, wept, shouted and even fainted as the Beatles performed a 30-minute set. Film footage shows waves of young women clutching their faces and surging toward the stage, held back by lines of police and ushers.

The $304,000 in ticket sales set a new revenue record for a concert, and the event marked the first time a major stadium hosted a rock performance. Its success demonstrated the profitability of large-scale outdoor concerts and helped shape the future of live music promotion.