THEN: Sixty years ago, the Beatles — backseat from left, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon — are squired away in a 1961 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 limousine for two shows at the Seattle Coliseum after arriving at 2:15 p.m. Aug. 25, 1966, at Sea-Tac Airport. Late that night, they departed for Los Angeles. (Courtesy of Devlin Donnelly, Port of Seattle)NOW: Seattle-based Sulk — from left, Jasper McCann and Peder & Carly Nelson — stand outside Climate Pledge Arena (former Coliseum). The band blends pop and rock with lyrics “from dreamy to esoteric to outright absurd.” The Beatles are a “monumental influence,” Carly says. “with love and passion for life … capturing majestic moments and turning them to song, where your heart just slays.” More info, including Sulk’s Oct. 16 show at Easy Street Records: sulkband.com. (Clay Eals)
Published in The Seattle Times online on Aug. 27, 2026
and in Pacific NW Magazine of the printed Times on Aug. 30, 2026
Stopping the show
Sixty years ago, near the end of touring,
Beatles played twice at Seattle Coliseum
By Clay Eals
As the saying went back in the day, “Beatles 4ever!”
But of course, the Fab Four’s tenure was finite, lasting 10 years, and their touring stint far briefer. Four heralded swings through America’s largest cities spanned just two-and-a-half years, ending unceremoniously six decades ago this month.
THEN: Clockwise from upper left, Paul, George, John and Ringo deboard a chartered American Airlines propeller plane at Sea-Tac to greet the press and three-dozen fans. (Screen shot courtesy of Joe Wren, KOMO-TV)
Thus, the pair of concerts on Thursday afternoon and evening, Aug. 25, 1966, at the Seattle Coliseum (today’s Climate Pledge Arena) became the British supergroup’s fourth- and third-to-last large-scale shows. The final two came days later at California baseball cathedrals: Aug. 28 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and Aug. 29 at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park.
March 31, 1966, Seattle Times, p36.
Because of their musical chart-toppers, long-running hit movies and ongoing controversies, the Beatles’ 1966 sweep of 14 U.S. cities was big news here, there and everywhere. Yet the group somehow was unfamiliar enough for The Seattle Times to let an unfortunate “Beetles” typo slip into the lead of its March 31 story announcing Seattle’s participation in the year’s tour.
“Yesterday and Today” butcher LP cover, June 1966.
Beatles brouhahas that spring and summer included the abortive release of the group’s “Yesterday and Today” LP, whose cover showed the quartet posing as butchers with raw meat and bloodied, decapitated dolls. On tour in the Philippines, they unintentionally snubbed First Lady Imelda Marcos, sleeping through an appointment they knew nothing about. Also stirring debate and protest was a notorious John Lennon interview claim, “We’re more popular than Jesus.”
Prior to the Coliseum shows, Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Emmett Watson said Beatlemania no longer was limited to the 9- to 14-year-old “hysteria set.” Most of the $4-$5-$6 ticket sales, he reported, were coming from college students and young adults.
THEN: The Beatles perform Aug. 25, 1966, at the Seattle Coliseum. Their two shows became the group’s fourth- and third-to-last large-scale concerts. Their set list: “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 “Long Tall Sally.” (Screen shot courtesy of Joe Wren, KOMO-TV)
The concerts themselves — scream-fests like the Beatles’ 1964 solitary Coliseum performance — proceeded smoothly. In each show, the green-and-grey-suited moptops sang and played 10 songs for a half hour, following 90 minutes of opening acts: the obscure Remains, the Cyrkle (“Red Rubber Ball”), the Ronettes (“Be My Baby”) and soul singer Bobby Hebb (“Sunny”).
THEN: Among pickets protesting Lennon’s “more popular than Jesus” comment near the Coliseum, a woman displays a sign invoking the First Commandment: “Remember thou shalt not have false gods before me.” (Screen shot courtesy of Joe Wren, KOMO-TV)
The afternoon show drew only 8,200 fans, but 14,382 attended the evening sellout. The shows grossed $118,071 ($1.2 million today), at the time the largest one-day take in Seattle entertainment history. The Beatles, whose share was $73,718 ($760,000 today), were in and out of town in less than a day.
Intriguingly, to promote a primary-election measure that fall, each Beatle wore a “Yes Stadium NOW” button, with KJR-AM deejay-emcee Pat O’Day tantalizing crowds with: “How would you like to see the Beatles in a 50,000-seat domed stadium?”
THEN: On June 10, 1976, Paul McCartney (and Wings) plays the first concert at the Kingdome, which was imploded in 2000. (Screen shot courtesy of Joe Wren, KOMO-TV)
The measure failed, but another passed in 1968. Fittingly, after the Kingdome opened on March 27, 1976, the first concert it hosted, on June 10, featured Paul McCartney and Wings.
Today, McCartney and the other surviving octogenarian Liverpool lad, Ringo Starr, still tour. Yeah yeah yeah!
THEN: The cover of 9,000 fan booklets sold at the show for $1 apiece. “It was an experience,” says attendee Deb Bigelow, 15 at the time, “to be with that many people who were all in the same hyper-excitement.” (Courtesy of Deb Bigelow)
WEB EXTRAS
Big thanks to Jasper McCann, Peder & Carly Nelson, Deb Bigelow, Bob Carney, Feliks Banel, Jack Taylor and especially Devlin Donnelly and Joe Wrenfor their invaluable help with this installment!
Here is a bonus episode of Feliks Banel‘s Cascade of History focusing on the Beatles’ 1966 visit, featuring Devlin Donnelly and yours truly, Jean and Clay.
Plus, at the very end, check out four photos of how Sea-Tac Airport looked in 1966 and a couple of other special visitors that year!
Also, click the following page layout to see our May 1, 2022, “Now & Then” column about the Beatles’ first visit to Seattle on Aug. 21, 1964, including their legendary stay at the Edgewater Inn.
Click the layout above to see our May 1, 2022, “Now & Then” column about the Beatles’ first visit to Seattle on Aug. 21, 1964, including their legendary stay at the Edgewater Inn.
One thought on “Seattle Now & Then: ‘Here they are, the Beatles!’ 1966, Sea-Tac Airport, Coliseum”
I was at this concert, tickets provided by Zollie Volchock a dental patient of my father, 12th row. Years later I became friends with Dick Curtis who along with Pat O’Day formed a production company to bring artists to Seattle.. I gotta tell ya, Curtis and O’Day were upset that Volchock pulled this off.
I was at this concert, tickets provided by Zollie Volchock a dental patient of my father, 12th row. Years later I became friends with Dick Curtis who along with Pat O’Day formed a production company to bring artists to Seattle.. I gotta tell ya, Curtis and O’Day were upset that Volchock pulled this off.