Fifty years to the day, come celebrate the Beatles final Cincinnati appearance at Crosley Field on Sunday, Aug. 21.
Fans who saw the Beatles concert – and local Beatles experts – will share stories during a free event 9:30 a.m.-noon at the Blue Ash Sports Center's Crosley Field, 11540 Grooms Road, from WVXU/WMUB.
This is something I've dreamed about since I wrote a story on the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' 1964 Cincinnati Gardens concert two years ago. And the folks at WVXU-FM are making this happen – a party to celebrate the Beatles second and final Cincinnati concert, on Aug. 21, 1966, a week before their final concert tour stop at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
DJs Dusty Rhodes and Jim LaBarbara, author Scott Belmer ("The Beatles Invade Cincinnati 1964 & 1966"), and concertgoers Bev Olthaus and Tom Sandman will share their stories with me about the '66 Beatles concert that Sunday afternoon 50 years ago – and the rain-out the night before. The Beatles played Crosley that afternoon, then flew to St. Louis and played that night, the only time the Beatles performed in two different cities in one day. (You couldn't do that today!)
We’ll play a lot of Beatles’ rock & roll music (they opened their '66 show with Chuck Berry's "Rock & Roll Music"), including their set list from the Crosley concert: "Yesterday," "Paperback Writer," "Day Tripper," "I Wanna Be Your Man," "Nowhere Man," "She’s A Woman," etc.
You can take a selfie with a photo of Paul & John provided by the Cincinnati Enquirer in front of the iconic Crosley Field scoreboard, and hear recollections from our VIP guests.
Bring your memories, tickets, t-shirts, photographs, scrapbooks and other memorabilia to show off -- but no selling please.
We’ll end our celebration with a Beatles sing-along led by Jeff and Misty Perholtz of the Cincinnati rock band, The Newbees.
Admission and parking are free. Food, coffee and drinks will be available from the concession stand. You might want to bring along a tube chair.
(I'm also hosting a two-hour Beatles at Crosley Field special 8-10 p.m. Saturday night on WVXU/WMUB, but more about that later.)
The Beatles celebration at Crosley Field in Blue Ash will be a memorable morning for Beatles fans of all ages. Help us spread the word to Beatles fans and music lovers! Thanks!
