The Beatles: Rock Band / 09.09.09

The Beatles. Pope John Paul II. Janis Joplin…and even King Kong. And of course, The New York Mets. These were among the giants who walked the earth at Shea Stadium, a venue that’s passed into the history of both sports and music.

The stadium was just over a year old when The Beatles played their famous show there on August 15, 1965. New York attorney William Shea, who was credited with bringing a National League team to New York, was on hand to christen the stadium on April 16, 1964; the Mets played their first home game there the following day – and lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Mets would have a better time in 1969, when they beat the Baltimore Orioles in game five to win their first World Series. During the early ’70s Shea was home to two of the greatest legends in sports: Centerfielder Willie Mays, who became a Met in 1972, and New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath.

Shea also made it into a few movies, including The Odd Couple – where Felix kept Oscar from seeing the Mets score a famous triple play. The 1975 version of King Kong also featured the gorilla hosting Jessica Lange above Shea, though this scene was actually filmed on a set in Flushing. And 14 years after Shea hosted John, Paul, George, and Ringo, it brought in Pope John Paul II – who held mass there on October 3, 1979.

If most music fans could transport themselves to Shea for one day, they’d probably pick one of the two Beatles appearances (the second happened on August 26, 1966). But another contender would be August 6, 1970, when a day-long “Summer Festival for Peace” featured a Woodstock-styled lineup of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Miles Davis, Johnny Winter and surprise guest Janis Joplin, making one of her final live appearances. The then-massive band Grand Funk Railroad played Shea a year later, and from there the floodgates were open – The Who (with The Clash opening!), The Rolling Stones, The Police, and Bruce Springsteen all played Shea in later years, as mega-concerts at the stadium became a regular event.

Yet Shea would forever be known for its association with The Beatles. This was underlined in July 2008, when Billy Joel gave the last concerts at Shea before the stadium was torn down. On the first of two nights, Joel played “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and told the crowd, “I want to thank The Beatles for letting us use their room.” For the second night, Paul McCartney joined Joel for a live version of “I Saw Her Standing There,” reminding the crowd that “[I’ve] been here a long time ago – We had a blast that night.”

Yet history has a way of repeating itself. The New York Mets moved into their new home of Citi Field on July 17, 2009. And the musical headliner on opening night? Sir Paul McCartney.