Today, the concrete structure that had been the Washington D.C. Coliseum looks like this…
… but on February 11, 1964, it was the site of the first Beatles concert in America. The show was taped by CBS. Pieces of it are available on YouTube, but as part of Apple’s promotion of the Beatles catalog being available on iTunes, the complete concert can be seen at this link. Here’s a preview. The narrator isn’t credited, but it sounds like the BBC’s Paul Gambaccini.
The technical setup for the show was pitifully primitive, but the excitement and energy were incredible. Just three years later, there would be “Strawberry Fields Forever”.