San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
READERS REMEMBER BEATLES SHOW: ‘THE MOST EXCITING DAY OF MY LIFE’
What happened when the Fab Four came to San Diego on Aug. 28, 1965? ‘It was a dream come true,’ writes one reader
In the Union-tribune’s Aug. 23 edition of Arts+culture, I wrote about The Beatles’ 1965 concert at Balboa Stadium and asked readers who attended to share their memories. Here are seven of the more than two dozen responses we received. More will be published in next Sunday’s edition of Arts+culture.
‘The crowd was really loud’
Aug. 28 is always marked on my calendar to celebrate seeing The Beatles at Balboa Stadium in 1965, my first concert. I was 14. My parents only let me go because my 19-year-old cousin took me. I remember I wore a light blue mohair sweater.
Everyone was screaming so loudly. I saw the Beatles run onto the stage, and they were probably singing. I heard music, but the crowd was really loud. My mother made me bring one of her huge hat pins. I guess that when she was a girl, that’s what they used for protection in a crowd! What a wonderful memory. ‘What the hell is this?’
Yes, I was there with four of my nerdiest, most hormone-ravaged girlfriends. We thought we were cool! We were 14 and got super dressed up for the event. My friend Cynthia (R.I.P.) and I had spent the better part of the previous year assembling a gum wrapper chain, which at the time of the concert was over 100 feet long. We took it to the concert, gave it to a security guard at the gate, and asked him to please give it to The Beatles. When he came back a few minutes later, he said that John Lennon remarked: “What the hell is this?” We were thrilled!
My mom was concerned when I arrived home much later that night, wide-eyed, no voice, hair completely messed up, eye makeup smeared from crying and screaming. I walked around in a daze for a week. It’s a cherished memory I would love to share with Cynthia and the others, but for various reasons we’ve lost contact.
‘A dream come true’
Of course I remember Aug. 28, 1965! My sister and I had splurged as soon as the tickets went on sale, buying the most expensive ones ($5.50). No cheap $3.50 or $4.50 seats for us. It seemed as though summer crawled by while my sister and I counted down the days before The Beatles came to San Diego. All summer long, we kept checking the mail, anxious for those tickets to arrive. I was 14 and madly in love with Paul Mccartney. My sister, 15 was hooked on George Harrison. As my brother drove us to Balboa Stadium, I was excited thinking that The Beatles were breathing the same air as we were.
After my brother dropped us off, we took our seats and could see the stage off in the distance. We didn’t think to bring binoculars, but just knowing The Beatles would soon be onstage was good enough. We were anxious for them to come on, but were forced to endure several other acts, which was pure torture. Hurry up! By the time
Sounds Incorporated came on, I was extremely impatient, and I doubt I was the only one. I thought they would never finish. During their final number, they built up such a crescendo, getting the audience all worked up with screams from the crowd beginning to grow. To this day, I can still hear Sounds Incorporated’s last song in my head.
Finally, it was time for the real concert to begin. When The Beatles walked onto the stage, it was hard to believe they were there in person. I remember promising the man next to me that I wouldn’t scream, and I didn’t. It felt so surreal hearing The Beatles perform live, even though with all the screaming going on, it was sometimes hard to hear. But I loved every minute.
All I know was that, at that moment in time, it was the most exciting day of my life. When I got home, I wrote in my diary about the experience. I had to staple extra pages to the entry for Aug. 28, because I had to write down everything, including every song they sang. I knew I would never forget that night as long as I lived. For this 14-year-old, it was a dream come true.
P.S. In 1976, when I was 25, I was able to see Paul Mccartney & Wings perform in L.A. That was an incredible experience, another surreal one. I was much closer to the stage that time. Then, 43 years later, I was able to see Paul Mccartney once again as he performed at Petco Park in San Diego last summer, another awesome concert! Now I have three great memories!
‘I tried jumping the fence’
I was 14 years old. My dad was doing some of the security at The Beatles’ concert with his security business. I tried jumping the fence on to the field when everybody else started doing it, and my uncle pulled me back. I am so thankful he did (I say that now). But I saw some of these girls get thrown back over the fence, because it was so chaotic and the concert didn’t have enough security. You couldn’t really hear The Beatles sing, because the screaming was thunderous and so loud. But to be able to say I was there is and was amazing. Great article. Brought back lots of good memories. Thank you !!!!!
Straight out of Banning
In August 1965, I was a 15-year-old living in Banning. My friends and I were excited about The Beatles like everyone else. I read a teen magazine which suggested “How to Meet The Beatles.” One idea was to get a press pass from your local newspaper and present it at a pre-concert press conference.
I approached the local paper, The Record Gazette, and received two press passes. Bingo! My friend, Bobbi Trimble, and I got tickets to the concert and her older sister drove us the 117 miles to San Diego (and back home again the same night).
At Balboa Stadium, we found the press conference, showed the press passes and — lo and behold — they let us in! Wow! Two teenagers from Banning were in a room with journalists, and The Beatles were sitting at a table 20 feet away. It was definitely a thrill!
We took photos. Bobbi asked a question. After the press conference, we found our seats in the stadium, far away from the tiny stage below. The Beatles performed, and they were singing miniatures; this was long before the huge video screens which project the performers so the audience can really see them.
When we returned to Banning, we wrote an article for the newspaper, which they printed. This made us minor celebrities at school for a few weeks. So long ago. It was fun to read your article and reminisce. I doubt that two teenagers could be so lucky these days. I am happily retired from 35 years as a speech pathologist in California, Washington and Alaska (and two years in England).
A side note: I had an English pen pal for four years as a teenager. Unbeknownst to me, when I lived in England in my 30s, my former English pen pal had moved to Los Angeles. Decades later, he tracked me down and we met, for the first time, in our 60s, in L.A. Beatlemania led to a pen pal meeting some 50 years later.
‘Some passed out’
I was 17 and I had two $5.50 tickets. The thing I remember was all the young girls screaming and crying. Some passed out. They would climb the chain link fence on to the field and try to make it to the stage, only to be caught by security and brought back. I remember one guy who made it to within 50 feet of the stage before being tackled. Also, as the planes would come in to land at the airport, all the screamers in the audience thought it was more screaming and it only got louder in the stadium. The one thing I have always regretted was throwing my ticket stubs away on the way out. It was one hell of an experience.
‘Part of history’
I was 19 when I attended the San Diego Beatles concert. Thanks for including the set list in your superb article, as my age then — and the 55 years that have transpired since then — are not the only reasons I cannot recall a single one of the songs. The nonstop, deafening screaming emanating from the audience prohibited any recognition of what the heck was being played by The Beatles.
As I recall, the stage was set up in the middle of the field at Balboa Stadium. And, of course, back then there were no big video screens to better capture what was going on. Basically, from the nosebleed section where I sat, it was akin to watching four ants on a matchbox. But I can say I was there, part of history.