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tatters
Aug. 29, 1966, when the Beatles played to a crowd of about 25,000 - well short of the stadium's pre-expansion capacity of 42,000.
Any theories as to why the Beatles played to so many empty seats on their final tour? Of course, no one knew it was gonna be their final tour, but still ....
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Big AlQuote
tatters
Aug. 29, 1966, when the Beatles played to a crowd of about 25,000 - well short of the stadium's pre-expansion capacity of 42,000.
Any theories as to why the Beatles played to so many empty seats on their final tour? Of course, no one knew it was gonna be their final tour, but still ....
Wasn't this around the time of John's infamous 'we're bigger than Jesus' remark? Perhaps that was a factor.
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batcave
They may not have sold out the Candlestick and Shea shows, but who else in music was performing for 25-40,000 people at the time....
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whitem8
Yes their 66 tour was beset with problems. It was then when Lennon made his famous Jesus quote. With that came death threats, protests, and boycotting. This was a lesser selling tour for The Beatles, and combined with all the craziness and the amount of time they spent on the road, it was a big factor in convincing them that it was time to quit the road. . . even Macca at this point agreed with the others to quit.
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tomk
Sid Bernstein, who promoted the Shea gigs, says the reason 1966 was not sold out was due to other stadium gigs the Beatles did that year were too close to NYC: Philadelphia, Boston, Washington. In 1965, Shea was the only East Coast show they did. As for Candlestick, I don't think all 42,000 were put on sale.
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stonehearted
In the Anthology film, when they're sitting around George's kitchen being interviewed, Paul and George recount how even their recent single Paperback Writer was difficult to pull off onstage because the vocal bits in between the verses had so many overdubs that it was problematic to perform it live.
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tattersQuote
stonehearted
In the Anthology film, when they're sitting around George's kitchen being interviewed, Paul and George recount how even their recent single Paperback Writer was difficult to pull off onstage because the vocal bits in between the verses had so many overdubs that it was problematic to perform it live.
It's a brave attempt, but they're no Beach Boys.
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stonehearted
They also weren't playing anything off Rubber Soul, as their set list from the Budokan, in Tokyo, Japan, the previous month reveals.
In the Anthology film, when they're sitting around George's kitchen being interviewed, Paul and George recount how even their recent single Paperback Writer was difficult to pull off onstage because the vocal bits in between the verses had so many overdubs that it was problematic to perform it live.
Set list for July 1, 1966, at the Budokan, Tokyo, Japan:
Rock and Roll Music
(Chuck Berry cover)
She's a Woman
If I Needed Someone
Baby's in Black
Day Tripper
I Feel Fine
Yesterday
I Wanna Be Your Man
Paperback Writer
I'm Down
Note: Matinee Show
Set list for July 2, 1966 at the Budokan:
Rock and Roll Music
(Chuck Berry cover)
She's a Woman
If I Needed Someone
Day Tripper
Baby's in Black
I Feel Fine
Yesterday
I Wanna Be Your Man
Nowhere Man
Paperback Writer
I'm Down
Note: Matinee Show
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stonehearted
They also weren't playing anything off Rubber Soul, as their set list from the Budokan, in Tokyo, Japan, the previous month reveals.
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Jah Paul
If I Needed Someone and Nowhere Man were from Rubber Soul. American audiences were treated to six different songs in '66 vs. the '65...Rock and Roll Music, If I Needed Someone, Day Tripper, Yesterday, Nowhere Man, and Paperback Writer. Not that there were many set list conversations back then like today!
They played We Can Work It Out during their short December '65 UK Tour, but never performed it again after that. Paul also played Yesterday on organ during that tour (compared to a full band version in '66)...both would have been interesting to hear, but lamentably no recordings have ever surfaced from that tour.
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stoneheartedQuote
Jah Paul
If I Needed Someone and Nowhere Man were from Rubber Soul. American audiences were treated to six different songs in '66 vs. the '65...Rock and Roll Music, If I Needed Someone, Day Tripper, Yesterday, Nowhere Man, and Paperback Writer. Not that there were many set list conversations back then like today!
They played We Can Work It Out during their short December '65 UK Tour, but never performed it again after that. Paul also played Yesterday on organ during that tour (compared to a full band version in '66)...both would have been interesting to hear, but lamentably no recordings have ever surfaced from that tour.
Yes, my mistake--or is it? As I'm from the U.S., I grew up on the Capitol album versions, so until relatively recently If I Needed Someone and Nowhere Man were not available on Rubber Soul and to this day I still don't equate those songs with that album.
Yesterday and Today; U.S. release date: June 20, 1966
Side one
Drive My Car – 2:25
I'm Only Sleeping – 2:58
Nowhere Man – 2:40
Doctor Robert – 2:14
Yesterday – 2:04
Act Naturally (Morrison–Russell) – 2:27
Side two
And Your Bird Can Sing – 2:02
If I Needed Someone (George Harrison) – 2:19
We Can Work It Out – 2:10
What Goes On (Lennon–McCartney–Richard Starkey) – 2:44
Day Tripper – 2:47
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Big Al
stonehearted, when you stated that no tracks from Rubber Soul were performed, I thought you meant it in the sense that the Beatles were not performing recordings from their latest release. I note from your post that Yesterday and Today pre-dates the Japan shows you highlight. So, I am a little confused by the point you were trying to make.
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stonehearted
It appears that revolutionizing the length and pacing of rock concerts was not to be in their forte.
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stonehearted
My point was that Rubber Soul, like Revolver, was a bit off "the Beatle path" when it came to performing songs live, more acoustic songs with mellower tones and more exotic and at times fancy instrumentation. How would they recreate the electric piano solo of In My Life, the sitar flavorings of Norwegian Wood, and so on. You's need to have a fuzzbox handy to left George play Think For Yourself. They were only onstage for 30 minutes as it was, so would they break out acoustic guitars for a slow quiet little ditty like Girl when they couldn't even hear themselves at full electric volume? Even their treatments of Yesterday at this time tended to be electric, if the full band was on the stage when it was being played.