Los Angeles • Sunday, August 28, 1966

About

On August 28, 1966, after a two-day hiatus in Los Angeles, the Beatles performed their second-to-last live concert at Dodger Stadium. Despite dwindling ticket sales on this final tour, a statement from manager Brian Epstein, released on this day, sought to counter negative press about their commercial influence.

This tour compares phenomenally well with last year’s. It’s much better all round this year, from the point of view of increased interest and we are actually playing to bigger audiences. Here in Los Angeles, for example, 36,000 people saw The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl. Today’s concert at Dodger Stadium is attracting 10,000 more. People have been saying things about diminishing popularity, but all one can go by is attendances, which are absolutely huge. By the time we leave, 400,000 people will have seen this series of shows, and Sid Bernstein has already delivered his formal invitation to The Beatles to return to Shea Stadium for him in the summer of 1967.

Brian Epstein – From “The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years” by Barry Miles

The Los Angeles performance drew 45,000 fans with ticket prices ranging from $3 to $6, the lowest reserved for U.S. Army members. Supporting acts included The Remains, Bobby Hebb, The Cyrkle, and The Ronettes.

Security was notably inadequate with only 102 staff. The event ended in chaos: fans clashed with police, resulting in dozens injured and 25 arrests. The Beatles’ limo was swarmed, forcing a retreat to under-stadium offices. Police used force to regain control, and fans lingered long after the show.

The Beatles exited in an armoured van and returned to the rented home at 7665 Carson Road, Beverly Hills, later flying to San Francisco for their final concert at Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966.

Paul McCartney returned to Dodger Stadium on August 10, 2014, as part of his “Out There” tour.

The first year [1964], McCartney and Harrison were very friendly. The second year, McCartney was real friendly and, in the third year, they were a real pain. But, I forgave them for that, because they were really tired. They were really tired of their own music and they were tired of each other. They had had it by the third year.

Bob Eubanks – Promoter of the concert – From “The Beatles: Off the Record” by Keith Badman, 2008

The only incident occurred early in The Beatles’ act when several people (mostly boys) came over the back wall and ran broken-field style for the stage. The guards discouraged that in a hurry, but there was such an uproar from the crowd that The Beatles kept looking back with a “What’s happening?” expression.

Once again the press party had to leave early, so we missed all the excitement of the escape. A tent in back of the stage concealed a car. Apparently, the car couldn’t get out of the stadium because the exit was blocked by other vehicles. It reversed right back into the stadium, where they transferred to an armored car, but that couldn’t make it through the crowd, either, so The Beatles went back to their dressing room, changed, and sat around for about two hours before they finally made it out in the limousine. (Some enterprising fans had reportedly let the air out of the armored car’s tires.)

Judith Sims – From TeenSet Magazine – Quoted in “Ticket To ride – The Extraordinary Diary of The Beatles’ Last Tour” by Barry Tashian

We planned on everything. I think when they first announced that The Beatles were coming to Dodger Stadium there were some doubts that they could sell 45,000 tickets. I think promoter Bob Eubanks had to put up some pretty high financing for them to agree to come there. Rumors were that he was concerned before, but then when the tickets finally took off, he was happy about it. As soon as we heard they were coming to the stadium, we started working with the (Los Angeles) Fire Department and a lot of people to see what we could do to keep the crowd from taking over the field, which they had done in a lot of other places.

We talked to the Fire Department and they let us put an eight-foot chain link fence around the whole field from the bullpen around home plate all the way to the other bullpen. We had it right up against the seats on the field level, so nobody could come off field level onto the field. It really was an exit area for those on the field level, but they let us do it if we would make sure that all exit doors were open and we could keep people from the upper levels from coming onto the field level. The fence was set in a way that if it got really run, it could have fallen over. We worked with a good professional named Jim Jones from the Fire Department.

The flat stage (decorated in blue and white), probably four feet off the ground, was set up at second base. We sold out all of the seats in the stadium, other than the Pavilions. The ends of the stadium were sold for the first time. With a flat stage, they could move around and the people on the far ends of the Reserved Level or Field Level could still see them. The promoters gave tickets to people who were blind to sit in the Pavilions.

Another change was we hired a lot of the off-duty Long Beach police officers. They were in uniform. They turned out to be a great move.

Bob Smith – Manager of Dodger Stadium and responsible for operations and security at the concert – From Walter O’Malley : Dodger Stadium : Other events at Dodger Stadium (walteromalley.com)

From the stage behind second base, we had a large tent set up and in that tent we had parked two limousines. The purpose of these limousines was when the show was over, The Beatles would come off the stage, go into one of the limousines and the center field gates would open. The Beatles would be in one car and I think the manager and a couple of guys in another car. Before anybody realized what was happening, we would have The Beatles out of the stadium and gone. It didn’t work out that way.

Bob Smith – Manager of Dodger Stadium and responsible for operations and security at the concert – From Walter O’Malley : Dodger Stadium : Other events at Dodger Stadium (walteromalley.com)

We were driven to the stadium in an armoured car that was parked immediately behind the stage. At this late point in the tour I suspect that the fans’ grapevine had circulated full detail of the boys’ act, giving everyone prior warning of the songs that would end the set. Even before the group started Little Richard’s ‘Long Tall Sally’, hundreds of fans invaded the field and surrounded our getaway car. By the time The Beatles left the stage and we were ready to pull away, many hundreds if not thousands more had positioned themselves across our path. Our driver yelled: ‘Hold very tight, folks!’ Then he slammed his gears into reverse and we sped backwards across the field at breakneck speed. Panic-stricken fans flung themselves out of our way. I was amazed that we didn’t smash into anyone. The trick failed to clear a path for our escape and the driver gave up. At high speed he headed for a dugout at the far side of the field and we hurriedly raced underground out of sight of the noisy hordes of fans. For two hours we were imprisoned in a team dressing room for our own safety while extra cops came in to start clearing the hysterically boisterous crowd. The getaway car we hoped to use was severely damaged and put out of action. Two girls even ran off with the ignition key as a souvenir! All four boys were on the point of despair and we were discussing the possibility that our party might have to stay cooped up at the stadium overnight. Ringo broke the ensuing silence by saying in a small voice: ‘Can I please go home to my mummy now, please can I?’ Two further unsuccessful attempts were made to get us out using decoy limousines and the third try was equally disastrous. We were put into an ambulance that managed to crash into a heap of broken fencing, after which it couldn’t be driven any further. Extra squads of police from the sheriff’s department eventually escorted us away to safety in an armoured car. Silently to ourselves we repeated Ringo’s heartfelt plea. We wanted to go home now. Please, could we?

Tony Barrow – From “John, Paul, George, Ringo & me: the real Beatles story“, 2006

Following the show, the exit doors didn’t work, so we had to come back and the fans started shouting, ‘They’re coming back! They’re coming back!’ And the reason why we came back was because we couldn’t get out!

Mal Evans – From “The Beatles: Off the Record” by Keith Badman, 2008

The tent was covered — it had a top on it and side curtains. We had ‘Beatles Dressing Room’ on a big sign on the tent. We had three different plans. The first was, when the show was over, that they would go into the tent. We had a guy in center field and once we said to open the gates, the gates would open and out they would go in the limo. Then we had another plan with a Brink’s Armored truck in Parking Lot B (near the top of Dodger Stadium). We would get them to the elevator up to the eighth level to Lot B and out of there. Then, the third plan we had an ambulance in the tunnel down the left field side, placed there long before the gates opened. That tunnel was sealed off where nobody could go through it or exit or anything.

Bob Smith – Manager of Dodger Stadium and responsible for operations and security at the concert – From Walter O’Malley : Dodger Stadium : Other events at Dodger Stadium (walteromalley.com)

When the show was over, all The Beatles but Ringo Starr did exactly what they were supposed to — they came off the stage and went in the tent. Ringo is on the stage waving a white towel. He won’t come off. It took him maybe an extra five minutes. So now, when the first Beatles got in the limo, the center field gates open. Fans realize what’s happening. Everybody spills out of the stadium on the end of the building and they all head to the center field gates. So, the limo starts that way. The front limo runs into the batter’s eye screen post. There were so many people. We had put white tape up there, so if it got crowded, the driver would just aim at the batter’s eye. He hit the post head on, going two or three miles per hour. Now, the people are all over the car. We are trying to reverse and get the limo back onto the field.

Chris Duca, the head of the field crew (of the Dodgers known as ‘Dukie’), runs in and he’s trying to get the big gates closed all together and we keep trying to get the limo back on the field. Sheldon Combs, the LAPD guy, got his shirt ripped off and hurt his leg. The Long Beach Police were holding everybody back. Really, they (Long Beach P.D.) saved the day for us, I think, because there were so many of them and they just happened to be in the right location. Kids were breaking those big barricades. They started fighting with police. One of the guys swung at one of the police and he ended up hitting one of his friends right above the eye when the cop ducked.

We got ‘Dukie’ and got a big rope around those gates — those kids were pushing those gates and they were rocking pretty good. In Parking Lot 8/10 (behind center field), there must have been about 25,000 people out there just milling around, a lot of them still screaming. They wanted to get back in, because they said, ‘The Beatles are in the ballpark!’ We finally got The Beatles back on the field, brought them to the Dodger dugout and the stands were still probably a third full or more, because they were watching what was happening out there.

We got them back in the dugout and now we said the plan in Lot B is gone. Some of the fans thought the Brink’s truck in Lot B might be a plan and they let the air out of the tires on the truck. So, that foiled that.

I was right in the middle of it. The promoter was staying right with The Beatles at the time. We get them back into the Dodger clubhouse. Then we decided we’ve got only one area now and we’ve got to try to get them down through the tunnel, up the stairs and into that ambulance. The Beatles are starting to cooperate pretty good, because they are a little frightened.

Now, we get them up and in the ambulance and we had two security guards we placed in the ambulance with them to kind of make sure to hold the doors. Here comes the ambulance and you’ve got your red lights and siren going. As the doors opened, the people kind of stepped back and the ambulance went right on through. They got over to Gate B exit at Scott Avenue. Two kids swung one of those paddles that closes the gate. They pushed it and the ambulance driver hit that. Well, that hit the headlight and knocked the battery. The battery ends up in the fan of the ambulance and it starts to overheat. They get them over to Elysian Park, where the baseball diamonds are at. So, now we get a call that that’s where they are stuck. We jump in our cars and head over there. By this time, we are calling for another Brink’s truck. The guy in the Brink’s truck in Lot B with the flat tires had his company send a driver from headquarters to Elysian Park. It must have taken a half hour. The Beatles are sitting right there in this ambulance under the palm trees in the park!

The security people are almost trying to fight to hold people down. There were quite a few people who said ‘I bet The Beatles are in there (the ambulance).’ We had gotten over there in about 10 or 15 minutes and waited for the Brink’s truck. We stayed away from the ambulance. We didn’t want to create too much of a scene. When the Brink’s truck shows up, we get it close enough to the ambulance. We get the back doors open and the Brink’s guys open that. More or less, the security guards grab The Beatles and threw them in the Brink’s truck. The ambulance driver was sweating pretty good.

Still, to this day, I remember when they were trying to close the doors of the Brink’s truck, one of The Beatles grabbed some fan’s hair and a wig came right off and when the doors were closed, the wig was still sticking out of the door as the truck left. When that Brink’s truck pulled out of there, cleared the crowd and was on the road, then I could kind of breathe a sigh of relief.

We went back to the stadium. There were some injured people at First Aid, nothing major. Most of the people were injured in the excitement out beyond center field. They just milled around forever. We were making announcements that The Beatles have gone. A lot of people wouldn’t believe that. They’re chanting, ‘The Beatles are still in the ballpark.’ It went on that way. People finally started leaving two or three hours after the event was over. Then, after that 12 o’clock, one o’clock, two o’clock, we still have got a lot of people there.

People had dropped off their kids and now they are still trying to get back in and pick up these kids. Sometime around two or three in the morning, we moved everything to the Union Oil station. Instead of parents trying to find Lot A or the Security office, that’s where we set up a command post. People were still coming in all night long. I’m still there at daybreak. We called juvenile hall. They sent up three or four buses to pick up close to 200 remaining kids. We would call people as far away as San Diego or Santa Barbara and these people were mad because we would tell them their 15-year-old daughter was still at Dodger Stadium. Then, if they wouldn’t come and get them, that’s when we called juvenile hall. The sun was up over Dodger Stadium when that last bus pulled out of there.

Bob Smith – Manager of Dodger Stadium and responsible for operations and security at the concert – From Walter O’Malley : Dodger Stadium : Other events at Dodger Stadium (walteromalley.com)

My ticket cost $6! I was seated right behind the third base dugout…pretty good seats for a ballpark. I do remember The Remains, Bobby Hebb and the Ronettes. Didn’t the Cyrkle also play that night?

I remember being jolted from head to toe when The Beatles were introduced and emerged from the dugout just below me. The electricity was amazing. The feeling when they emerged from the dugout was nothing like I’d ever felt just noise and excitement! I turned to look over at my very cool older cousin, and the hair on the back of his neck was standing up! He turned to look at me with a look of excitement and absolute wide-eyed amazement!

I was amazing at how well I could hear The Beatles over the din. Remember that bass lick at the end of “Paperback Writer” where McCartney trills that note? I could feel the power of his amp vibrating my seat. Fantastic!

The Beatles bolted off stage and ran into a tent that had been constructed just stage left, and then emerged a limo that manoeuvred through the third base bullpen. The kids, however, were waiting, and about 100 kids dropped from the stands onto the top of the limo. Jeez.

Gary – From Meet the Beatles for Real: Fan recall the last concert in LA

I was a teenager and I went with my buddy, Chris Reed, whose real name is Bob Issacson, but we called him Chris Reed at the time. We had on-lawn passes which we got form Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys and Earl Leaf, who was a photographer at the time. Neal Aspinall had to sign them. We were on the lawn by the stage.

When the show was over, we went downstairs in the dugout. We got to meet and talk with The Beatles. When they tried to leave Dodger Stadium the first time, they couldn’t get out. They had to drive the limousine around by the gate and couldn’t get out. So, they had to come back and wait awhile, and then try again.

Finally, everyone cleared out and The Beatles left and went to a gas station in an armored car. They switched to a limousine at the gas station in Silver Lake on Sunset. But, before they did that The Beatles stopped at a liquor store to pick up a few things like coke and chewing gum. Then, we pulled into that same liquor store to get some Diet Rite and there was this dog in the store that started to growl at us. We took out Beatle on-lawn passes and flashed them to the dog. The dog quit growling.

I remember going to a party afterwards up on Curson to a big house, up on the hill above Hollywood Boulevard. I remember I went with Jim McGuinn of The Byrds. He gave me a ride up to the house. He had a red Porsche. We went in and all of The Beatles were there.

Rodney Bingenheimer – From Meet the Beatles for Real: Fan recall the last concert in LA

From Louder (loudersound.com), July 14, 2023:

On August 28, 1966, the Beatles were scheduled to play Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The band had rented a home on Curson Terrace in the Hollywood Hills. A local DJ broadcast the exact address over the air, and so the LA police were called in to block off the home’s winding, uphill driveway. The Beatles hadn’t even left for the stadium and tensions were already rising.

Enter Christ and Moses. Specifically, Jim Christ and Jack Moses, two local kids who had scored summer jobs at Disneyland. When word came down that a local security firm was looking for help with a Rolling Stones concert that July, Christ and Moses had eagerly signed on. One month later, the same security company called them back. This time they’d be minding the Beatles at Dodger Stadium.

The show had nearly sold out and 45000 raging Beatles fans would be in attendance. Ticket prices ranged from $3 to an eye-watering $6 for the good seats. In one of the evening’s many disastrous miscalculations, the promoter hired a security force of just 102 people, including Christ and Moses. At the time, Jack’s sister Ann was the features editor at Tiger Beat magazine, and she documented much of what Jim and her brother experienced that hot, tumultuous evening.

Along with their supervisors, Moses and Christ drove out to the Beatles’ pad, where they found the Fab Four dining with David Crosby, press officer Tony Barrow and their road managers. The band were in good spirits and chatted amiably with the security detail. According to Jack, “They all seemed disappointed that they didn’t get out more. They were extremely disgusted with the radio station that broadcast the address where they were staying! Their ‘neighbours’ were watching the house with telescopes!”

When it was time to leave for the gig, The Beatles remained behind while Moses and others piled into an armoured decoy car, followed by a limousine packed with security guards and some others from the house. Predictably, they were followed by a mad legion of fans, who chased the mini-motorcade through the city, nearly causing several accidents along the way. Finally, the team arrived at a designated rendez-vous point, where it was revealed to the pursuers that the Beatles were not in either vehicle. Incensed, but defeated, the posse left. Shortly thereafter, a ragged old Chevy van pulled up and out popped the Beatles, who jumped into the armoured car and off to the gig they went.

The show itself proceeded relatively smoothly, other than a pack of girls breaking through one of the gates upon the band’s arrival, much to George’s amusement. Inside the dressing room, Paul, John and George picked up their instruments, plugged into little practice amps and retreated to separate corners of the room to run through the night’s setlist. Christ recalled, “It sounded fantastic! They were just working out, it was groovy!”

The band were decked out in green sharkskin suits with bell-bottoms and as they waited in the tunnel to be called onstage, the compère introduced a seemingly endless parade of local DJs, which irritated John to the point that he started for the stage, only to be pulled back by Paul and George.

Finally they took the stage and worked through their eleven-track set, beginning with Chuck Berry’s Rock And Roll Music and ending with Little Richard’s Long Tall Sally a half hour later. Their set also included Day Tripper, I Feel Fine, Yesterday, Nowhere Man and Paperback Writer. During the show, the band would wave to various sections of the audience, who would respond with frenzied howls. Except, to John’s dismay, one particular section of fans who sat impassively as he relentlessly waved up to them. It was down to Jim, at side stage, to explain to John that it was a section of blind children.

Post-gig transportation was generally planned out in complex, well-oiled campaigns of subterfuge — decoy vehicles were crucial to the strategy. At Dodger Stadium however, the plan was for the band to pile into a limo straight away and leave through a gate in centre field, but as they began their exit, a throng of girls burst through the gate and descended upon the vehicle. According to Jack, “We were told to run alongside the cars, which we did. When they opened the gates, the cars couldn’t get out because a bus and two cars were blocking the way. Then about 1,000 kids swarmed in and all around the car!”

As fans began climbing on top of the band’s limousine, the driver was forced to turn back, retreating to the dugout, where the band fled back into a locker room. Outside, police relied on brute force to control the surging crowds, clubbing away at fans attempting to charge through the wooden barricades, as bottles rained down upon them. The crowd remained in the stadium and as the clash with police wore on, the band’s prospects of escape progressively diminished.

According to Moses, the Beatles cracked open some Pepsis and shared cigarettes with the lads. “I walked over to John,” recalled Moses, “and said, ‘I thought we’d be able to get you out of here.’ And he said ‘Why is that?’ I asked, ‘Did you notice my name?’ His eyes almost popped! I said ‘If you think that’s good, you ought to see Jim’s!’ “John got up and looked at Jim’s name tag and he shouted ‘It’s Christ and Moses! I’ve been waiting to meet you both for a long time!’ Then he turned to Jim and said ‘I didn’t mean it, I really didn’t! I didn’t mean a word of it!’ Only a week prior, John had issued his infamous proclamation about the Beatles being more popular than Jesus, which had caused a terrific outrage in the US.

Paul looked over at Jack and cracked, “You should be able to get us out of Dodger Stadium since your great, great, great grandfather could part the Red Sea.” John looked at Jim. “And how about you! Shouldn’t you be getting some dishes so you can start breaking the bread and bringing on the wine?”

Meanwhile, the getaway car that they planned to use was severely damaged and worse, two girls had run off with the key as a souvenir. The band’s spirits lowered as each attempt at using a decoy limousine failed worse than the previous one. Finally, after two hours of their de facto hostage crisis, a plan was hatched. Guards leaked a rumour that a girl had fainted. The Beatles then lay down on the floor of an ambulance, but not before thanking Christ and Moses for looking after them so smartly. Impulsively, Jack gave John his “Moses” nametag, which utterly delighted him. “Look at this!” John said to Ringo. “You can bet I’ll wear this. Thanks!”

Though the band made it out of the side entrance, the ambulance crashed into a pile of broken fencing. Some sheriffs arrived, along with an armoured car, and the band were safely escorted back to their rental. The next night, the Beatles played their final live concert at San Franscisco’s Candlestick Park (discountring their surprise appearance in 1969 on the roof of the Apple building). In the wake of the San Francisco show, a backstage photo emerged that inspired wild speculation among fans as to the cryptic message that it contained. It’s a photo of John, smoking a cigarette and wearing a tag on his jacket that read, “Moses.”

$4,875 Per 60 Seconds For Beatles

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Beatles trotted out of the third base dugout at Dodger Stadium Sunday, earned $4,815 a minute for a half-hour’s singing, then sped away from center field in two black sedans.

They sang through 27 speakers and a 2,000-watt public address system but were drowned out by the screams of their audience, 40,000 strong. The show — 10 songs — grossed about $146,000.

“Looka their clothes,” a girl shouted as the Beatles began their show. “All green and mod,” referring to black suits with green lapels.

She and a few others fainted, but there were no serious disturbances.

Before the Beatles disappeared after the show their manager, Brian Epstein, said the Dodger Stadium appearance made more money than two previous concerts in Hollywood Bowl, which drew 34,000 and grossed $176,000.

From Petaluma Argus-Courier – August 29, 1966

40,000 Yell, Weep as Beatles Belt Out 10 Hits at Stadium

The Beatles bombarded Dodger Stadium microphones Sunday night with a total of 10 songs that took approximately one-half hour of their time and earned the quartet nearly $5,000 per minute.

Predictably, no one could hear them over the shouting throng that whipped itself into a crescendo of emotion long before the famous four came trotting out of the Dodgers’ dugout to mount the temporary stage facing home plate.

Awaiting their appearance, more than 40,000 persons, by far most of them teenagers, listened impatiently to soloist Bobby Hebb and three groups with the unlikely names of The Remains, The Cyrkle and The Ronnetts.

“Looka their clothes!” shouted a teenage blond with stringy hair. “All green and Mod!” She promptly fell flat and was hauled out by attendants, as were perhaps a dozen other youngsters who had patiently waited to faint for their idols.

Once on stage, the Liverpudlians went to work in their usual earnest fashion, grinding out old album tunes such as “She’s a Woman,” “If I Needed Someone,” and “Rock ‘n Roll Music.”

But even though each of their screaming guitars was hooked up to a 240-watt amplifier and each of their voices was channelled through a 2,000-watt public address system through 27 speakers set along the baseline, they were seldom heard from the blue-and-white stage.

John Lennon sang the first solo; then Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr alternated, but none of the troupe was more successful than another at being heard.

“But they don’t care,” said one of the 110 private security agency guards assigned to the stadium. “So who cares if they hear anything? These kids just come here to scream.“

IN SEA OF TEEN-AGERS – Adult Takes in a ‘Concert’

A man who has never gone to a Beatles concert has never really made contact with the teenage generation. I had only one ticket Sunday night so I went to Dodger Stadium alone. A middle-aged single on the aisle. I sat in a sea of teenagers. Two girls in the seats in front of me turned around and smiled maternally. Girl always smile maternally at older men. The girl on my right was a beauty. She had large brown eyes, a plump creamy face and flaxen hair. She reminded me of Bessie Love.

I was hardly in my seat when there was a fantastic sound, like the shrieking of a sky full of jets.

“For your information,” said the scoreboard, “the Beatles have arrived …” This had set off the ear-splitting din. “And…” The shrilling sound lowered — 40,000 voices poised. “… are in their dressing room!“

Pandemonium.

While the Beatles were in their dressing room, we were entertained, the scoreboard said, by a group called “The Remains”. They did look a bit left over.

While The Remains were stomping about and yelling into the amplifiers, the scoreboard lighted up with a new message: “Welcome all adults we converted to Beatle fans! Where are you?“

All heads within 20 feet turned my way. The two girls in front of me fawned maternally. “Go on,” said the girl on my right “Stand up!” I cowered in my seat. I took a deep gulp from my root beer and started coughing. “What’s the matter” the girl asked. “You embarrassed?” “No,” I told her. “I’ve just got a touch of consumptive conspicuousness.“

After The Remains, they gave us a group called The Cyrkles. The odd spelling came up on the scoreboard. I took out my notebook to write it down. One of the girls in front caught me at it. “Are you a reporter?” she asked. “Oh, no,” I said, fumbling for some reasonable way out. “I’m interested in music. I’m a composer.” “Oh!” What did you compose?” “Well,” I said. “Have you ever heard of ‘End of a Perfect Day’?” She shook her head. “How about ‘Nearer My God to Thee’?” “You’re kidding,” she said. She looked at me with maternal reproach. I felt like Warner Baxter in that picture “Daddy Long-legs.”

I turned to the girl on the right. After all, she had spoken first. “Do you like the Kyrkles?” I asked. “Kyrkles!” she shrieked. “They’re CIRcles. They just spell it that way.“

How skware can you get?

“You remind me of Bessie Love,” I told her, trying to change the subject. “What, luv?“

Fortunately, the Beatles finally came on and further conversation was impossible. They sounded just like their records, only louder.

From Los Angeles Times – August 29, 1966

Hemmed in by the law

Security officers Sunday grabbed an unidentified flop-haired youth who jumped out of the stands and tried to run across the field during the Beatles’ Los Angeles concert in Dodger Stadium. Elaborate security precautions prevented serious incidents, but the Beatles were forced to hide in the clubhouse until the crowd left.

7,000 Beatle fans wreak havoc with security plan

LOS ANGELES (UPI) – A screaming mob of some 7,000 Beatle fans put quite a chink in the usual iron-clad armour protection of the four mopheads after they finished their 10-tune concert at Dodger Stadium Sunday night.

The Beatle faithful, perhaps in consternation at not seeing or hearing more of the Liverpool quartet during the brief 30-min-ute performance which lured 45,000 into the home of the Dodgers, stormed one of the entrances to the ballpark before the singing group could be whisked to safety.

Security personnel of army-like proportions had tried unsuccessfully to sneak the Beatles out in two cars through a rear gate. But the vehicles were met by 200 or 300 teenagers who promptly halted the Beatle caravan by throwing their bodies in the path of the autos. The quick-thinking drivers of the two cars beat a hasty retreat back into the stadium as the fans ripped off hood ornaments and outside mirrors as souvenirs.

A second attempt to penetrate the surly crowd in the Beatles’ famed armored car was also a bust as the teenagers let the air out of all the tires on the heavy truck. The stadium then became a fortress for the barricaded Britishers as police locked all the gates.

But some youths rolled up a large trash bin and used it as a battering ram while others kept the guards on the move hurling shoes, belts and trashcan lids.

Even after the wily Britishers made good their escape from the stadium in their repaired armored vehicle, the battle was not won. As the armored car approached the Beatles’ hilltop hideway in Hollywood, another mob blocked the narrow street with a car.

From Times-Advocate – August 29, 1966

[…] LOS ANGELES, August 28: Down in the middle of the Dodger baseball team’s stadium, on a small platform, I watched the world’s greatest group performing for 40,000 fans of all ages, races, sizes, shapes and incomes. All sat with eyes glued on the tiny beetle-sized figures, most of them yelling at every wave or step or word.

A dumpy middle-aged mother near me twisted her lace handkerchief tensely, crying “Aren’t they lovely?’’ A toddler looked up from his sucker to ask: “ Is that them, mama?” And a tall, thin teenage boy in flowered shirt and cord bell bottoms sat on the edge of his scat, slapping his thighs and yelling “Go Man.”

It was a gas for all-too-short 25 minutes on Sunday. The boys had had two days of rest in the Los Angeles sun, and were driven to the stadium in a white armoured car. As they ran onto the stage, thousands were thrilled and cheered their thanks for the coming of the Beatles.

Biggest cheers after the initial welcome were for George’s solo of “If I Needed Someone ” and for Paul’s wonderful “Yesterday.” Biggest, that is, until Paul stepped to the mike to announce: “ We’d like to feature someone on this number who doesn’t usually sing.” Yes, though bachelor Paul seemed to be the most popular Beatle this year, Ringo’s “I Wanna Be Your Man” was still overall favourite when it came to numbers!

Third number, “Day Tripper,” again was the signal for a dash to the stage, but this time only by two teenage boys, who tore across the grass, but were brought down by tackling security men and thrown out in a jiffy.

The near-capacity crowd was quite quiet during the songs and when members announced the next tunes. They wanted to hear the Beatles. For the other groups on the show, however, it was mayhem. Nobody listened!

The Beatles found it easier to get into the stadium than to get out, as you probably read in your daily papers. Let me fill in on those reports a little…

Fans spotted the getaway car as it started to leave the stadium parking lot, mobbed it and the driver turned back into the field. The boys got out and hid beneath the scats, before bolting to the locker room, where they locked themselves in for several hours, while extra cordons of police were called in.

They started to sing: “We all live in a yellow locker room…” to pass the time. When the Beatles did make it out of the stadium, they found the road blocked near their Hollywood hideout in a canyon house by a car turned sideways across the road and several hundred fans waiting to ambush them!

An armoured truck was rushed to take the Liverpudlians up to the house, where several hundred more fans were waiting with a greeting! Yes, LA is still very much a Beatle town! […]

From New Musical Express – September 2, 1966

Last updated on October 25, 2023

Dodger Stadium

This was the 1st concert played at Dodger Stadium.

A total of 2 concerts have been played there • 1966 • Aug 28th • 2014 • Aug 10th

Setlist for the concert