NEW YORK – AUGUST 28: (L-R) English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Paul McCartney, … [+]
Michael Perlman is a fifth-generation Forest Hills resident, the Chair of Rego-Forest Preservation Council, and author of “Legendary Locals of Forest Hills & Rego Park.”
He is also a regular concertgoer at Forest Hills Stadium. “The acoustics and sight lines at Forest Hills Stadium cannot be beat,” he says.
Since 1960, the venue has presented such historically significant acts as The Who, Simon & Garfunkel (Forest Hills High School graduates, as Perlman notes), Barbra Streisand, The Bee Gees, Donna Summer, Bob Dylan, Trini Lopez, Peter, Paul & Mary, Ella Fitzgerald, Bette Midler, a young Stevie Wonder (who lived in Birchwood Towers briefly in Forest Hills), Talking Heads, Perry Como, Jimi Hendrix, The Monkees, Johnny Mathis, Diana Ross, Judy Garland, The Rolling Stones, and The Doors. (More recently, this summer, the venue has hosted the likes of LCD Soundsystem, The Smile, Weezer, and The Strokes.)
Most famously, The Beatles performed at Forest Hills Stadium on August 28 and 29, 1964 — the group’s first concerts in a stadium setting.
Not long after landing at JFK Airport, the group had taken a helicopter from Manhattan to the stadium, landing on a grass tennis court.
More than 16,000 fans attended each night, with thousands more turned away. Some 200 police officers were stationed inside the stadium, with another 300 officers on patrol outside. Private detectives and four ambulances were on the scene, with fire hoses at the ready to dampen any unwanted behavior. The Bill Black Combo, The Exciters, The Righteous Brothers and Jackie DeShannon provided pre-show entertainment.
FOREST HILLS, NY – AUGUST 29: Still-life of a Beatles ticket stub for the Forest Hills Music … [+]
This was a particularly eventful time to live in or visit Queens, Perlman points out. “Nearby, the 1964 World’s Fair was in full swing in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.”
(It was an important stop on the tour for other reasons. On the night of August 28, in between their concerts at Forest Hills Stadium, Bob Dylan introduced The Beatles to cannabis at the Delmonico Hotel. The experience left a lasting impact on the group.)
For his own part, Perlman has admired the stadium since childhood. “I would take long exploratory walks, particularly with my mother in the summertime,” he says. “I must have been around six or seven in the late 1980s when I first noticed the eagle and crest-adorned façade of Forest Hills Stadium, with its impressive colonnade, surrounded by lush greenery. It evoked a sense of grandeur and mystery, and engaged my senses, even as a child. It always felt like New York’s Colosseum, but was far more intact. In other countries, even ruins are respected.
In 2010, Perlman was disheartened to hear that America’s first tennis stadium was in danger of being sold and demolished “for another needless condo,” and launched a campaign to save the stadium. “I emphasized how preserving, restoring, and creatively reusing the historic Forest Hills Stadium would create jobs, foster historic pride, and boost our quality of life in the long-term as a venue for tennis, concerts, and other recreational and community pursuits, rather than selling the stadium parcel to a developer for a quick buck to shore up WSTC finances, which would run out anyway.”
Thanks to the efforts of Perlman and others, the stadium was reborn in 2013, with Mumford & Sons performing the opening concert. “The greatest award is witnessing a most iconic and picturesque stadium standing at the time of its centennial. May it continue to branch out for the next 100 years.”
Besides that opening concert, one of Perlman’s other favorite concert experiences was an evening featuring Tears For Fears and Hall & Oates. “I’m an ’80s baby after all.”
