Billy Joel selected as Shea Stadium's :: Music News :: Articles

There probably aren’t as many massive venues that have been as memorable as smaller ones like the Fillmore West, CBGB’s, or the Roxy in London. If we had to pick a few, right up there would be Central Park, Red Rocks (because everyone releases a concert movie from there) and the iconic Shea stadium. Soon, Shea will be closing and New Yorker Billy Joel (number 30 on Paste’s Best Living Songwriters list) has been chosen as the final artist to grace the field.

“The Last Play at Shea… From The Beatles to Billy” will be held on July 16, the day after the Major Leaguew Baseball All-Star-Game at Yankee Stadium, with tickets going on sale Feb. 16. Further history will be made as Joel will become the only artist to have ever played both major New York ballparks, since he also played Yankee Stadium in 1991. The stadium is closing after the 2008 baseball season, after which it will be replaced by Citi Field, which is currently being built on one of Shea’s parking lots.

Shea Stadium is best known as the home of the New York Mets and former home of the New York Jets, but when it comes to music, the stadium has been immortalized as the place that launched stadium tours when the Beatles began their 1965 American tour to a record 55,600 people. The concert is also known as the starting point of Beatlemania, since the large crowd generated so much noise that the Beatles couldn’t hear each other play. Since then, Shea has hosted many other icons, including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Police, Elton John and Eric Clapton.

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