The Beatles live: Coliseum, Seattle

The Beatles performed two shows at the Coliseum in Seattle on 25 August 1966, at 3pm and 8pm, on the 12th date of their final tour. The support acts were The Remains, Bobby Hebb, The Cyrkle, and The Ronettes.

The group flew from Los Angeles at 10am, and stayed at Seattle’s Edgewater Inn. They held a press conference at the hotel, where Paul McCartney was asked repeatedly about false claims that he was due to marry Jane Asher the following day.

In Seattle, Paul was questioned by journalists over a rumour that he was about to get married. Gossip had spread through the city suggesting that Jane was due to fly in to join Paul. The word was that a wedding cake had been ordered and a bridal suite reserved at a local hotel. A reporter said: ‘Mr McCartney, would you please confirm or deny reports that you plan to marry Jane Asher here in Seattle this evening.’ Playing along at first, Paul grinned broadly and said: ‘It’s tonight, yeah!’ Then he added more seriously: ‘No, she’s not coming in tonight, as far as I know. I do hope it’s not true. I’m going back to Los Angeles tonight so if Jane flies in I’m not even going to see her, let alone marry her!’

The Beatles had played at the Coliseum once before, on 21 August 1964, during their first full American tour.

The Beatles had a standard set containing 11 songs during their final tour: ‘Rock And Roll Music’, ‘She’s A Woman’, ‘If I Needed Someone’, ‘Day Tripper’, ‘Baby’s In Black’, ‘I Feel Fine’, ‘Yesterday’, ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’, ‘Nowhere Man’, ‘Paperback Writer’, and ‘I’m Down’. During the tour they occasionally substituted the final song with ‘Long Tall Sally’.

Only 8,000 of the 15,000 available tickets had been sold for the 3pm show. The evening concert was full, however.

Afterwards The Beatles were due to fly back to Los Angeles on an 11pm flight, for two more days of rest. Their departure was delayed by five hours after one of the aeroplane’s wheels was found to be worn out and in need of replacement.