(...Story Continued from Previous Page) I remember we were opening
for the Doobie Brothers somewhere in Pittsburgh, and we
got to "Just the Way You Are" and the crowd erupted, and we looked at each other
and thought, "Oh, I guess they're playing this one." And then everywhere we
went, we started to get that reaction.
I have no idea why it was such a big hit, though. Maybe it was just my time,
maybe it was just the zeitgeist. It's all a grand accident, really. I have to
give credit to Columbia Records for picking the singles, because we had four
hits off that record, and I wouldn't know a hit if it bit me on the ass.
Let's talk about the Shea Stadium shows. Did it bring up any
particular emotions when the idea of these concerts came up?
Well, I remember when Shea opened in 1964. It's a bit daunting to think that
a state-of-the-art stadium was built and torn down in my lifetime.
These shows finish what I call the hat trick of New York stadiums -- we
played Yankee Stadium, then Giants Stadium, and now Shea, so that's pretty cool.
But after that, and selling out 12 Madison Square Garden shows, where else are
we gonna go?
Do you feel any added pressure for a concert like this?
I actually think it was more problematic when we played Yankee Stadium. We
were told we were the first act to play there, and it was also our first big,
gigantic stadium show. Now we know how to play the gig technically, we just have
to figure out how to make it different from our usual show. We don't have
blow-up pigs or fireworks or gimmicks, so trying to figure out how we can
amplify the music itself -- that's the challenge, and I think we've got a handle
on it.
And, I mean, the Beatles played there -- that's pretty humbling.
What do you remember from the Beatles' concerts at Shea? You were
living just down the island when they played that first show in 1965.
It was insane -- I didn't go to the concerts, but everybody was just in awe
of the fact that a band would play a show like that. I know they only played
like a half an hour, and nobody could hear them anyway because of the screaming.
I don't think we'll get the screams, so I guess we're going to play a little
longer, and you'll be able to hear us.
Really, it's just a big thrill, to know I'm closing a place that the Beatles
opened.
Alan Light is the former editor-in-chief of Spin, Vibe and Tracks
magazines and a former senior writer at Rolling Stone. His writing has also
appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, GQ and Entertainment Weekly. His
book "The Skills to Pay the Bills: The Story of the Beastie Boys" was published
in 2006. Alan is a two-time winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for
excellence in music writing.
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