THE BEATLES AT THE SHEA STADIUM

I saw this film once in a cinema in 1981, in a very strange mixture film which also intercalated scenes from the whole Magical Mystery Tour film. It was then announced in the cinema as The Beatles in Concert or something like that. It was the only time that I saw it being announced that way and maybe the last time it was showed in a cinema in my city.

The Beatles at Shea Stadium is a good historical film which shows Beatlemania at the highest point in the United States, I think. It includes scenes on which the band are aboard an helicopter which takes them to the stadium. The film also shows scenes above the stadium, in full capacity full of screaming fans, and when the band appears at the stage (located in the second base in the baseball diamond!) the film also shows a lot girls screaming!

I think that this film was well done and now it is a good documentary of an historical period in Rock music.

The sound is not very good, but maybe it wasn`t better than expected after all, so, as I read on the web, I realized that in fact the band overdubbed a lot of things in a studio before the film was released in 1966. So, some songs were presented as they were really played on stage, but others have minor overdubbs included, but a few are really re-recorded live studio versions which were later put at the same speed with the film`s video speed. Anyway, it is an enjoyable concert film.

Maybe the best moment in this film and maybe the most funny is when John appears playing an organ solo during the song called I`m Down and laughing a lot with George while doing the backing vocals.