Moer than 45,000 teen-age girls- and a few anguished parents as well-rent the sultry Flushing Meadow air with shrieks and moans last night as the Beatles returned to Shea Stadium for their last annual concert.
As usual,the noise was deafening, the music was all but audible,the hysteria high and the money big-although not so big as in years past.
The attendance was about 10,000 shy of the Queens stadium's capacity, and at least one person-Sid Bernstein, the tireless promoter-was a trifle disappointed."But," said the sadfaced,round little man,"I think I knew it was coming."
Mr. Bernstein promoted each of the The Beatles' four appearances in New York.Last year at Shea, each seat was filled and the gross was $304,000, from which the promoter made a tidy profit.
This year,with higher ticket prices,the gross was $292,000,and the four young men from Liverpool,George Harrison,John Lennon,Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr-get sixty-five percent of that. Mr.Bernstein said he didn't think there would be much left for him after expenses.
For their $189,000 last night,The Beatles were on the make-shift stage over second base for an hour.From the turmoil and the cacaphony there emerged snatches of "Yesterday," "Long Tall Sally," "Paperback Writer," "Nowhere Man," and five other numbers of the Beatles' own devising
In a Wells Fargo Wagon
The Beatles arrived at the arc-lit stadium from their temporary digs at the Warwick Hotelm 54th Street and the Avenue of the Americas, at 7 P.M.They pulled up to the stadium in a red Wells Fargo truck, having transferred from their limousine at the old World's Fair grounds.
They had been in New York since early Monday morning, sheltered in their hotel suites from the swarm of teenagers seeking entrance. There they slept a lot, saw friends, examined goods brought to them by tradesmen of the city and, as is their habit, painted with tempera paints.
The Beatles rarely go out of their rooms when they are visiting America, and never travel with their wives while on tour.
The Beatles were preceeded on stage by assorted disk jockeys and singing groups whose names appear to have been The Remains,The Cyrkle,and the Ronnettes.The Stadium was strangely quiet, and the several hundred policemen on hand-including special patrolmen maintained by Mr.Bernstein at a cost of $15,000-had little to do.
In The Mode
The vast majority of the audience was composed of teen-aged girls dressed in the latest mode.A sociologist would note that there were few Negroes among them. "That's true," Mr.Bernstein said."There's a real split that way."
When The Beatles gained the field at 9:20 P.M. , the shrieks began, building from a low moan to hurricane proportions.For the next half-hour, there was no let-up. Many girls cried, and a few waved articles of underclothing. The name Paul-the only unmarried Beatle-was on numerous lips.
The police, who had been standing by idly, suddenly found their hands full of struggling, weeping, hysterical teenagers. Several dozen girls were carried offf, overcome. Others tried to rush the bandstand, but were apprehended.
When it was over, The Beatles left with a wave of the hand for Los Angeles, the next stop on their American tour. Mr.Bernstein said he believed the days of English rock 'n roll groups, with the possible exception of The Beatles, were numbered.
"From now on," he said, "It'll be all American. Remember what I said-I've never been wrong before."
To which fathers with pubescent daughters can only cry,"Mersey."
