The third date of The Beatles’ final tour took place in Cleveland, Ohio, where they performed once concert before 20,000 people.
Support acts for the entire tour were The Remains, Bobby Hebb, The Cyrkle and The Ronettes. The show was temporarily halted during The Beatles’ fourth song, Day Tripper, when 2,500 fans invaded the baseball field. The group spent some time backstage before order was restored.
One of the wildest shows took place at the Municipal Stadium in Cleveland – where the crowd broke loose, crashed through a four-foot security fence and invaded the field during Day Tripper. Hopelessly outnumbered and overwhelmed, the local police simply gave up and stood back while hordes of fans took control of the stage and the ‘secure’ grassy area around it. The boys rushed off to their makeshift dressing room – a caravan/trailer parked behind the stage – and the concert was stopped for 30 minutes while private guards and police reinforcements restored order. At the end of that show roadie Mal Evans had to stop fans from stealing the boys’ instruments from the stage as souvenirs.
John, Paul, George, Ringo & Me
The Beatles’ standard set throughout the tour consisted of 11 songs: ‘Rock And Roll Music’, ‘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’ and ‘I’m Down’. During the tour they occasionally substituted the final song with ‘Long Tall Sally’.
After the concert The Beatles stayed in Cleveland. The following day they flew to Washington, DC.
Cleveland Stadium, also known as Lakefront Stadium and Cleveland Municipal Stadium, was normally used for baseball and American football matches. It was demolished in 1995 and the Cleveland Browns Stadium was built on the site.
This concert happened after the Beatles Ban was lifted in Cleveland. After the 1964 show at Public Hall – also stopped because of wild fans – the group was not allowed to return during the 1965 summer tour. All the details and photos are in the book, “The Beatles In Cleveland: Memories, Facts & Photos About The Notorious 1964 & 1966 Concerts.” Enjoy!
I was there with my boyfriend, Ken
I was there too, got a lot of free tickets from plain dealer newspaper because of getting the new customers, etc.
I WAS HERE AND YES, I WAS PART OF THE CROWD WHO STORMED THE STAGE! Sunday 14 August 1966 I’m 65, but I still remember the details of what happened, what I wore, who I was with. Awesome memories!
The radio call letters KILT are heard at the beginning. KILT was in Houston. The “1260” on the lip of the stage was the AM frequency of the Cleveland station, WIXY.
I was there in the nose bleed section. Went with an older girl. All of a sudden many took off for the field and stage. My friend grabbed my hand and screamed “Let’s go!” We got separated. I got pushed all the way to the stage. I clearly remember I had my hands on the stage and got hit with a billy club. Ended up with a silly putty egg size welt on my hand that I had to keep hidden from my dad. He would’ve killed me had he known I went. Bless Mom for allowing me to go. I remember it all. My olive green bell bottom pants and sleeves outfit I saved for. My gogo boots. The fear, exhilaration. The Beatles laughing, the screams. I’ll never forget.
When Brian Epstein announced plans for 1966, Louisville was named for August 14. How/why/when did it get switched to Cleveland?