Yeah Yeah Yeah

I don’t remember a whole lot about it. But I was there. Crosley Field, Cincinnati. August 21, 1966. I begged my mom to let me go to see the Beatles. I was 8.

Mom made my teen siblings take me. I don’t know how they felt about it, but I was thrilled. The Fab Four had been the world’s biggest music sensation of all time for about three years by this time.

We didn’t know it at the time but this would in fact be the Fabs’ last tour. In fact, their now famous finale at Candlestick Park in San Francisco would be just a few days later.

It was a different time. After a few opening acts, their set wasn’t much more than about a half hour. The tickets, about 5 bucks.

Imagine it.

You certainly couldn’t hear much of it. The standard sound equipment of the day couldn’t compete with the screams. But we sure saw them. Way out there at second base on the Cincinnati Reds’ home field. And we got the full experience of Beatlemania.

Check out one of their live shows on YouTube and get a glimpse of the excitement. The electricity.

Yes, the mania.

I had no idea the impact it would have on the rest of my life. Because from then on, if I told somebody I saw the Beatles in concert, they’d often say “Really? You saw the Beatles?” And I’d feel cool for about 10 seconds.

I know my life is not defined by seeing John, Paul, George, and Ringo, but it’s still pretty dang cool isn’t it?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.