Shea Stadium is a dump. It’s old and beat to shit, but to Mets fans like myself it is home. I have been to many games over the years at this old girl and have always loved it. It doesn’t have the baseball history of Yankee Stadium that their fans love to boast about but it has to me something else that is just as important, if not more. The only thing I love more than baseball is rock n’ roll music and there is no place more important than Shea Stadium to it’s history. It has been called “rocks most hallowed ground” before. Shea will be torn down at the end of this year to be replaced by a new state of the art 800 million dollar stadium called Citi Field. Billy Joel played the last Shea Stadium concert this past July with the “Last Play at Shea.” Here is a look back at some of the more famous and important concerts at Shea Stadium.
“So many magical notes have found life there, sharing airspace with the planes that pass over the stadium. So many musicians have found their footing there, commandeering the same field where a bouncing ball once inexplicably made its way through Bill Buckner’s legs.” -Mike Kerwick (New Jersey Record)
The Beatles: Aug. 15, 1965 and Aug. 23, 1966
The show of shows. It is Shea’s enduring music legacy. The group’s first show at Shea fanned the flames of Beatlemania here on this side of the pond.
Janis Joplin / Jimi Hendrix: August 6, 1970
Jimi Hendrix…..need I say more?
The Police: Aug. 18, 1983
“We’d like to thank the Beatles for lending us their stadium,” Sting told the crowd, according to the New York Times. The Times’ review said that the Police drew 70,000 fans to the show.
The Who/The Clash: Oct. 12-13, 1982
This two-day set of concerts cracked the New York Post’s list of the 25 Best Moments at Shea. The two bands played most of their hits during the shows, according to the Post.
Simon and Garfunkel: Aug. 6, 1983
A special night for the band. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel both called Queens home when they were young.
The Rolling Stones: Oct. 10-11, 25-26, and 28-29, 1989
The Stones played a 2½-hour show the first night of their six-gig run at Shea. Eric Clapton made a cameo, joining the band for “Little Red Rooster.”
Elton John/Eric Clapton: Aug. 21-22, 1992
“John’s flashy showmanship, tailor-made for stadiums, stood in contrast to the physical restraint Clapton brought to the stage,” wrote The Record’s Barbara Jaeger. “But the venerable British artist’s as-always excellent guitar play made for a performance as compelling as John’s.”
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Oct. 1 and 3-4, 2003
Springsteen played 30 songs during his final show at Shea (according to brucespringsteen.net), 12 during his encore, capping the last performance with “Blood Brothers.” These three shows wrapped up Springsteen’s “The Rising” tour.
We may not have Ruth or Mantle but Hendrix, Clapton and the Beatles are fine with me.
Slapbacks