Let’s travel back in time, shall we? It’s summer in Seattle, and the year is 1964.
Crowds are piling around the Edgewater Hotel so thickly that police are installing cyclone fencing around its perimeter to keep people away. Others are jumping into Elliott Bay to try and swim around the backside of the building. More crowds flock toward the Coliseum — and even more are at the airports.
What causing all of the commotion? Nothing other than Beatlemania, of course.
The world’s most famous rock band played their first-ever show in the PNW on August 21, 1964 — and the city just couldn’t get enough of them.
It may have been 60 years ago, but it feels like it was just “Yesterday.”
Here comes The Beatles, do do do do
Even before the Fab Four’s plane touched down on the tarmac, Seattle was in a frenzy.
To prep for the visit, Seattleites were writing letters to the Mayor asking to be selected to give the music group a tour around the city. Department stores were selling $2.99 Beatles wigs and the Seattle Police Department was already implementing extra security measures following the Beatles’ San Francisco show just a few nights before.
Once The Beatles stepped on our turf, it was clear the fanatics were just getting started.
The crowds were “Here, There, and Everywhere”
Tickets for the sold-out show at the Coliseum cost a whopping $5, equating to ~$43 today. The Beatles played hits like “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” with one concert-goer describing the noise as almost electric — “The air fairly quivered, shimmered with it.”
Once the concert was complete, fans rushed the stage. It took the combined effort of several police officers, firefighters, and sailors to keep the throngs of fans — predominantly teenage girls — at bay. The band had to leave in an ambulance with other taxis acting as decoys to ensure a safe departure.
Check out this story from our friends at KING, where they talked to a fan who was there 60 years ago.
To this day, some say you can still hear the fans’ echoes among the sound of crashing waves near the Edgewater Hotel...
