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The Beatles 1965 Shea Stadium Concert Poster

Currency:USD Category:Memorabilia / Music Memorabilia Start Price:NA Estimated At:6,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD
The Beatles 1965 Shea Stadium Concert Poster
1965. Without question, the most famous, most important and certainly, most historically significant Beatles concert was their August 15, 1965, appearance at New York’s Shea Stadium; the concert setting new standards as to the way popular music was promoted and perceived by the masses from that point forward. It was Brian Epstein’s vision to hold concerts in large outdoor venues on The Beatles 1965 summer tour of North America; a vision Epstein shared with promoter Sid Bernstein during the 1964 summer tour “…next time we come to America we will play and fill outdoor stadiums.” The Beatles played their thirty-minute, twelve-song set to nearly 60,000, mostly screaming, hysterical fans at Shea; the benchmark event ushering in the age of “stadium rock” during the height of “Beatlemania” in America. John Lennon, in conversation with Sid Bernstein, exclaimed “…You Know, Sid, Shea Stadium…I saw the top of the mountain.” The Beatles, figuratively, did see the top of the “mountain” as they were transported to Shea Stadium by helicopter from the Manhattan waterfront, flown over the city, then to the roof of the World’s Fair building adjacent to Shea; the final 100-yards to the stadium tunnel accomplished via Wells-Fargo armored truck; some of the aerial action captured on film and seen on ABC-TV in the one-hour documentary special “The Beatles At Shea Stadium.” In the process, the concert set world records for attendance (55,600), gross receipts ($304,000), and performer’s share ($160,000); the television special also garnering notoriety as being the first event of any kind (live or in the studio) to be filmed with eight cameras; further proof that The Beatles were setting new standards at every turn! Only four of these 11 x 17” heavy cardboard gems advertising the most famous concert in rock n roll history are known to have survived the years. While The Beatles share the poster with four more British bands who were stars in their own rite; this poster is the only poster on which the legendary 1965 event is advertised. Incidentally, fewer examples of this 1965 poster exist (four) than the renowned 1966 Shea Stadium poster which holds the world record price for a concert poster ($132,000) of which seven are known. This example is evenly aged with some water spotting primarily on the lower left quadrant and bottom half of the left border. Three of four corners have light wrinkles or minor fraying. Three quarters of the reverse has white paper attached from being mounted at one time.