7.30pm, Sunday 14 August 1966 (45 years ago), I was at Cleveland Municipal Stadium anxiously waiting for the Beatles to take the stage that was located on top of second base.
The third date of The Beatles' final tour took place in Cleveland, Ohio, where they performed one 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.
Tony Barrow
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.
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