Yesterday, I shared a letter sent to the "New Beatles Fan Club" about seeing the Beatles in concert in Toronto in 1966. Today I am sharing another letter from the same newsletter, this one from an anonymous fan who saw the Beatles in Cincinnati in 1966. It was originally published in 1976 but was written shortly after seeing the concert.
I got to the stadium about 11 o'clock and got in without any trouble. The show started almost on time, about a quarter after noon. Now, comes to the sad part. Well, part of it was sad. The DJ said there would be a slight delay and began to give out instructions again, but then the Beatles came out before he was done.
Jen told me to watch Paul and that he was really outgoing in all of his actions. Well, something was wrong. I know it because the others ran on the field, but Paul walked, messing with his guitar all the way. He was last on the stage, and while the others acknowledged the audience and said hello and stuff, Paul was still quietly messing with his guitar.
Something hit me then, and it was someone named John Lennon. I was really worried about Paul, but John was so much fun to watch. He played mainly to our side and kept making faces at the kids in the balcony. I can't quite remember who introduced what, but I know John and George did a lot more talking than Jen said they did in Cleveland. Paul hardly smiled. He kept moving his mic back out of the sun while John was moving his out all the time. It was hot, and I have a sunburn to prove it!
I think it was right after "Paperback Writer" that Paul put his fingers up to his eyes and squinted like he had a terrible headache. And then he bowed, and when he came up, he blew a real tired breath and shook his head wearily at John. I'm not exaggerating either. A couple of times, he was rubbing his eyes strangely. It was nerve-wracking.
I wouldn't have believed it was George Harrison on the stage if the other three Beatles weren't there. I always thought he was the quiet type, but you should have seen him! It seemed like he was running around constantly. He introduced about four numbers with bits like "and here's a song we recorded about six years ago." Once he was standing beside John, and all of a sudden, he ran over to Paul's side and waved to everyone over there. He was the first one to say hi to the audience when he came on. Such an introvert! The funniest and most unexpected thing he did was during "Day Tripper. " He stood in the middle of the stage, planted his feet firmly on the floor, and wiggled his knees. I wish you'd have a talk with that boy! He was really darling. Maybe he was trying to make up for what Paul wasn't doing.
Paul didn't waltz and he didn't direct the others for "Nowhere Man." Jen swears he was the one who ruined "If I Needed Someone", his harmony was so off! He wasn't all bad, though. "Long Tall Sally" was really tremendous, and so was "Yesterday", but he looked so dull singing it. His face looked really pale.
They wore their blue-and-red striped suits with blue-printed shirts and no ties. John wore big yellow-tinted sunglasses, and George wore greenish-tinted tiny oval ones. They had a big tent over them, and it was awfully hard to see Ringo. He looked good, though, or at least someone else I know thought so!
They left in a blue car at the opposite side of the field, arms waving wildly out the window. There were only about three attempts to get on the field, and the only one I saw was a boy almost besides us jump over at the end, the police tackled him nicely.
No comments:
Post a Comment