Comiskey Park, Chicago: Where the Beatles Played in 1965

The Beatles played two concerts at Comiskey Park, the Chicago White Sox ballpark at 35th Street and Shields Avenue, on 20 August 1965, to more than 50,000 people in total. The park was demolished in 1991. Its site is now a White Sox parking lot with a marble home plate plaque, and there is no Beatles marker.

A doubleheader at White Sox Park

The Beatles reached Chicago in the early hours of 20 August 1965. Police had refused to let their plane land at O'Hare after crowd trouble in Houston, so it came down at Midway Airport at about 3am. By the afternoon they were on a plywood stage built over second base at Comiskey Park, also known at the time as White Sox Park.

There were two shows, at 3pm and 8pm. Brenda Holloway, the King Curtis Band, the Discotheque Dancers, Cannibal & the Headhunters and Sounds Incorporated played first, and the Beatles met the press between sets. Police officers sat shoulder to shoulder across the infield with their backs to the stage, watching the stands. The screaming covered most of the music.

What the stadium show earned

Attendance totals are given as 56,000 or simply more than 50,000 for the day, with tickets up to $5.50. Receipts were put at $150,000 to $160,000. The year before, their single Chicago concert at the International Amphitheatre had taken about $30,000.

The Chicago Daily News sent reporter Betty Flynn to cover the crowd, and she found fans who had queued from 4am.

The site today

Comiskey Park opened in 1910 and was the White Sox's home until the end of the 1990 season. It was demolished in 1991 after the club moved to a new park across 35th Street. The old grounds became that park's parking lot, known as Lot B.

The one marker is a marble home plate set into the pavement near the Gate 5 ramp, inscribed with the park's name and years, with the batter's boxes and foul lines painted around it. It honours the ballpark, not the concerts. No Beatles plaque exists. The stage stood at second base, which would put it out among the parked cars beyond the plate.

Other Beatles stadium sites that have since gone include Shea Stadium in New York and Candlestick Park in San Francisco.