u/groutspecialist

June 26, 1966 - A teenage rock concert at Shea Stadium yesterday which included appearances by Adam West and Frank Gorshin of the “Batman” T.V. series was a disastrous flop.
The musical program featured the Young Rascals along with appearances by West and Gorshin, billed as their television characters, Batman and the Riddler.
The featured performers arrived on schedule, but the legions of screaming teenagers failed to materialize. Teen turnout did not even reach the hundreds, and the few present showed more boredom than excitement. The audience consisted mostly of sweltering parents and toddlers interested in seeing West.
A stadium spokesman estimated attendance at 1,000, but he must have been counting the hot dogs.
Sensing financial disaster, part of the technical crew demanded its fee in advance, and only began setting things up when West personally guaranteed payment.
Organizers delayed the scheduled 2 p.m. curtain by 40 minutes to allow late arrivals to fill empty seats, and officials instructed spectators to vacate the upper decks to cluster in the lower boxes.
The crowd remained listless, and the loudest applause before West arrived followed a baseball scoreboard update: “Attention, please; in Chicago, at the end of five innings, the Mets are leading the Cubs 3-2.”
Jerry Chinelli, a 15-year-old youth from Corona, reacted to the score by stating: “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.”
Finally, a police car with siren wailing led West, seated in the back of a convertible in full costume, on a parade around the park. He dashed to the bandstand, sang a few songs and bantered with Gorshin, bringing about the only sustained noisy reaction of the day.
One mother blamed the 87-degree temperature, remarking, “I must be crazy sitting here,” though previous outdoor concerts have succeeded in high heat.
Producer Harry Bloomfield stated, “Shea Stadium is not conducive to concerts.” When confronted with the record turnout achieved by the Beatles at Shea, Bloomfield dismissed the British group as “a freak attraction.”