Washington Coliseum

«Oh yeah, I’ll tell you something
I think you’ll understand»
I Want to Hold Your Hand (also the first Beatles song to hit the American airwaves)
–Writer (s): John Lennon, Paul Mccartney
Copyright: Northern Songs Ltd., Sony/​ATV Tunes LLC
At first sight, the Washington Coliseum is a graffiti covered parking lot located in a transitional D.C. neighborhood. But what if I were to Marty McFly you back to a chilly February 11^th, 1964? Well, for somewhere between $ 2 to $ 4, you had the hottest ticket in town.
The Beatles. The British Invasion starts here…
Thanks to radio station WWDC, December 1963 was the first time Americans and Washingtonians got a musical taste of what the Brits were already feasting on. Thanks to Ed Sullivan, The Beatles were visually presented to the American public via television, but it was Washington, D. C that had the honor of hosting the very first Beatles’ concert in February ’64.
The Washington Coliseum and the Nation’s Capital welcomed the band in 8 inches of snow as they arrived via Union Station. It’s been reported that 8,092 fans were privileged to see The Beatles in their very first American concert at the Coliseum. How the hell do you fit 8,092 screaming fans into a venue that was meant to accommodate 7,000 concert goers? I guess they blew the roof off that sonuvabitch.
It’s high time that Washington, D.C. steps up to the plate and celebrates it’s part in The Beatles’ history. Recently, the city has given the Coliseum a little love with new signage acknowledging it’s role in this transformative moment in pop culture.
They say that you can’t start a fire without a spark. Ya hear that, D. C? We were the arsonists that set the British music Invasion ablaze. Now take a bow.
Interesting Beatles Facts related to Washington, D. C:
— Their 8:31 p.m. Coliseum performance was kicked off with «Roll Over Beethoven» and entertained adoring fans for 40 mins
–During the show, the fellas were pelted with jelly beans after learning that George Harrison loved a similar (and softer!) British candy. The Fab Four did not find the jelly-​like projectiles as fab as their fans.
–The Coliseum concert was performed in the round and Ringo’s drum set was rotated throughout he show.
–During their ’64 D.C. performance, George Harrison’s microphone wasn’t functioning during the opening number… neither was his replacement microphone.
— 15-​year-​old Washington, Marsha Albert, was the first person to request the Beatles music in the United States
–Several music critics regard the ’64 concert in Washington as the singular event that skyrocketed the band’s popularity in the States and in the rest of the world
–The Beatles overnighted at the Shoreham Hotel located at Connecticut Avenue and Calvert Street in February 1964
–Shortly after their American debut concert, the band stormed out of the British Embassy in Washington after an unidentified women cut off a lock of Ringo’s hair for a keepsake.
–The band’s August 1966 concert in D.C. was protested by 5 members of the PG County KKK Clan in response to John Lennon’s comments that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus. The band went on to perform in front of 32,164 people at the DC Stadium, renamed Robert F Kennedy (RFK) Stadium.

In a town full of historical sites, one that is overlooked but that is utterly fascinating is the Washington Coliseum in Northeast DC.
When it opened in 1941 as Uline Area, the Washington Coliseum was home to the now forgotten Washington Lions hockey team (which played there from 1941 — 1949). Also, from 1946 — 1949, it also served as the home court of the Washington Capitols of the BAA (the Basketball Association of America), which was a precursor of the current NBA. The Capitols were coached by none other than GWU grad, Red Auerbach, who later, of course, achieved glory by coaching the great Boston Celtic teams of the 1960s.
After the Capitols folded in 1951 and as the decade of the 1950s wore on, Uline Arena hosted an array of undistinguished tenants and was an arena of unremarkable reputation. In 1959, it was renamed the Washington Coliseum when the original owner, Mike Uline, sold it.
A few years later in 1964, on a cold winter’s night, the Washington Coliseum saw its greatest moment when it served as the venue for the Beatles first American concert. Occurring on February 11, 1964, just two nights after their triumphant appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in New York, the Beatles played 12 songs, including «I Saw Her Standing There,» «She Loves You,» and «I Want To Hold Your Hand.» The Beatles entire set lasted roughly 30 minutes.
The concert was significant not only for being the Beatles first on American soil, but it also found the group at a rare moment in time. In early 1964, as footage from the concert clearly shows, their enthusiasm was fresh and palpable. At that point, still with their innocence yet untarnished, they soaked up the audience’s approval rather than wanting to recoil from it. A mere two years later, after a period of unprecedented worldwide acclaim, they retired from public performances due to apathy and having grown tired of the fanatic adulation.
For the Coliseum, the latter part of the 1960s was seemingly unremarkable; and, in 1973, with the 20,000 seat Capital Centre having been built in nearby Largo, Maryland, it fell into disrepute. Not surprisingly, as a result, it became a venue for second tier events like figure skating and professional wrestling. It briefly hosted Go-​Go shows in the 1980s, when local acts like Chuck Brown, Trouble Funk, and Rare Essence graced its stage; but, in 1986, the Coliseum closed for good as a venue for sports and entertainment.
For a time, it housed the Miracle Faith Center and later, beginning in 1994, when the arena truly hit rock bottom, it served as a waste transfer station for a number of years. Then, in 2006, in a long overdue move, the Coliseum gained protection from the DC Historic Preservation Review Board. It was amazing, given the relative ease with which old decrepit structures are met with the wrecking ball, that the Coliseum survived to see that happen.
Today, the Washington Coliseum, in its latest incarnation, is a parking garage and is attracting quite a bit of steady customers from the many new office buildings that have cropped up in the area over the past 5 to 10 years. Indeed, the newly christened NoMa neighborhood, with its influx of new blood and energy, has grown steadily around it. Future plans are being considered that will have the Coliseum overhauled and turned into a mixed use complex (featuring commercial office space, ground floor retail, and residential units).
However, as a Beatles fan, there’s a part of me that would love to see the Coliseum reclaim its role as an arena (or, to, at least, become a museum or shrine to a forgotten past — something akin to what has become of the Cavern in Liverpool). Even today, as it plays out its role as an undignified parking garage, remnants of the old arena and its seats remain. To walk into its cavernous space (pun intended) and to see the flaking paint, crumbling concrete, and exposed steel beams is to walk into an American version of a ruined Greek amphitheater and to succumb to the evocative emotions that those ruins conjure up.

For me, if I look hard enough, I can see the Beatles, somewhere there in the dark shadows, and hear their music playing in my ears. In that moment (in the midst of Greek-​like ruins), a Beatles fan (indeed, anyone who appreciates history and pop culture) can easily feel a bit of the magic that can be experienced nowhere else in the United States.
Here’s a clip from the Beatles concert: