One Direction rocks the Rose Bowl (via @OneDirection on Twitter)

The lights dim and the opening chords of a song start nearly indiscernible beneath the deafening (mostly female) screams of the crowd. Before the band enters the stage, the camera sweeps the crowd and shots of crying teen girls, overcome with emotion and excitement, flash across the jumbotron.

It's 2014, and this is the first night of the One Direction "Where We Are" tour at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, but apart from updated hairstyles and the concert footage being in color, it could be confused for a scene from 1964's "A Hard Day's Night" featuring the original British boy band, The Beatles. 

There's some that might call it blasphemy to mention One Direction and The Beatles in the same breath. One is often cited as the greatest band of the twentieth century, the breeding ground for some of the most original, memorable songwriting of the last hundred years. The other is a pop confection manufactured by a reality show and a music producer featuring five boys selected more for their good looks and marketable voices than their musicianship. But the two bands share more in their DNA and their evolution as pop icons than first meets the eye.

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Just compare the trailers for their concert films -- The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" and the "1D: This is Us" movie. Footage from both depicts the band members as practical jokers, hamming it up for the camera and bringing that impish sense of humor into interviews and even onstage. They both play before masses of screaming women, while we also get a glimpse of their life and interactions behind the scenes. We seem them both as gods on stage and normal boys who seem a bit baffled and overwhelmed by their sudden success. In both films, we see how the "Lads from Liverpool" and the boys of 1D are really just normal guys with strong connections to their families and their home towns. Larger than life on stage, but really they're just like us.

In their early years, The Beatles laid the groundwork for a formula that has made One Direction successful. The early music of the Beatles shares the sweet simplicity in construction and lyrics that drives so many of One Direction's songs to the top of the Billboard charts. Take The Beatles single "She Loves You" from 1963. With lyrics like "She says she loves you/ And you know that can't be bad/ She says you loves you/And you know you should be glad" and the recurring chorus, "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah," the Beatles created a frothy pop confection with an irresistible hook. Ultimately, not so different from One Direction's first hit single "What Makes You Beautiful" with a chorus of "You don't know, oh, oh, you don't know you're beautiful" and lyrics like "Don't need makeup/to cover up/being the way that you are is enough."

Both groups were propelled to fame by teenage girls -- obsessive and intense in their devotion to the bands who provide their first sexual awakening. With lyrics such as, "And when I touch you, I feel happy inside" and "I know we only met, but let's pretend it's love," from the Beatles "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and One Direction's "Live While We're Young," respectively, both bands toe the line between remaining sexually non-threatening enough to appeal to parents and sexual and sensitive enough to stimulate the interest of teen girls on the verge of womanhood.

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Even in appearance and evolution, One Direction owes a debt to the Beatles (though Harry Styles arguably strives to resemble the more sexually dangerous Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones than the clean-cut Paul McCartney). Both groups' early looks were defined by unruly mops of hair contained within the safe package of well-tailored suits and ties. As The Beatles abandoned that look for psychedelic gear, even longer hair and an abundance of facial hair, so too has One Direction followed suit as they've aged -- trading their suits for skinny jeans and t-shirts, adopting facial hair, and covering themselves in tattoos. 

The boys of 1D are evolving. Niall Horan plays guitar for the majority of this tour, a skill that had not been previously showcased as frequently. This, along with their newly announced album "Four" said to feature songs almost entirely written by the members of One Direction themselves, suggests that they are seeking to take more control over their image and their music, much like the Beatles did.

The Beatles stopped touring in 1966 after screaming crowds made it impossible to hear their music. Standing in the crowd at a One Direction concert, each song blooms above a persistent chorus of screams. Pitches of hysteria erupt as each new song begins and every time Harry Styles appears on the screen. It's not hard to imagine that if it weren't for significant advances in amplification, you would not be able to hear them either.

I also attended the Paul McCartney concert earlier this August, the first time McCartney had played Dodger Stadium since The Beatles penultimate live concert there in 1966. His audience has mellowed significantly since the British Invasion days, and the crowd was composed of all ages and equal numbers of men and women-- from eight-year-olds to those who'd seen him in last appearance at Dodger stadium as teens. 

In contrast, the majority of the One Direction audience were young girls (tweens and teenage) -- the show even had a special drop-off and pick-up point for parents so they could let their daughters revel in their teenage fantasies in the presence of their heartthrobs without parental supervision.

An excitement and electricity permeated the audience at both shows-- all were primed to see someone they idolized and worshipped. The One Direction concert possessed a youthful exuberance that McCartney has long since left behind-- the deafening screams alternated with the crowd chanting entire songs, and the whole experience was marked by a camaraderie and joy that sparkled with the effervescence of frothy pop and puppy love. 

The boys in the band seemed just as happy to be there as their adoring legions of fans, and though admittedly already a fan, I couldn't help but feel a large stupid grin plastered on my face from start to finish. Not only are their songs catchy, but so is the spirit they bring to their work-- a sense of fun and mischief and deep love that extends to and proceeds from the audience.

McCartney's fans may have mellowed, bringing a less hysterical and more enduring admiration, but you can still sense that thrill and electric charge flare at moments. When he launched into "I Saw Her Standing There," it was if the whole crowd was seventeen again, shrieking and writhing in the aisles to a song that defined the Fab Four at the height of Beatlemania. And when McCartney sang "Let It Be," the crowd lit up the night with flashes from their cellphones as they swayed and sung along to the ballad. Something that the boys in One Direction prompted their own fans to do when they sang the love ballad "Little Things."

Ultimately, both concerts were well-produced pieces of showmanship-- a chance for fans to bask in the glory of these artists amidst the trappings of fireworks, smoke machines, and mechanically raised platforms. Yet, strip all of that away, and you have the real recipe for success that both sets of artists share-- catchy love songs and bucket loads of charm. At both shows, you felt carried away on a musical journey, caught up in the lyrics and emotional context of the moment. Half of The Beatles are gone and we've yet to see what trajectory One Direction might take, but for now, the British boy band, past and present, is alive and well.

Reach Maureen Lee Lenker here or follow her on Twitter here.