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Beatles First US Gig at Washington Coliseum


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Perhaps we've had this before but I couldn't find it when searching so here we go.

Chaotic, setting up own gear, Mal Evans helping Ringo move the rotating drum riser, but the band are very tight, it's all here:

http://youtu.be/X9SuSR7icVc

Edited by EssentialTension
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[quote name='Stu-khag' timestamp='1336577378' post='1647826']
Loving the minimal set up. And not a monitor in sight! I am in awe of how well they gel. They epitomise the importance of gig fitness!
[/quote]

Indeed, though they had quite a few years of constant gigging under their belts by the time of this concert.
It would be interesting to know where they were on the '10,000' hours spectrum. ;)

The minimal set-up is amazing though. No wonder they gave up touring within a few years because nobody in the audience could hear anything. Surely decent PA systems were available back then?

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[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1336640008' post='1648656']...Surely decent PA systems were available back then?
[/quote]

No. At best, a train station approach, with multiple little boxes strung around. All that was required, prior to rock, was for the 'MC' to be heard everywhere. Mixing consoles were very limited, and expensive; nothing to project the drums.
Auditoriums were physically designed around the concept of the symphony orchestra, where multi-strings and brass didn't require amplification. The means available for recording were limited (no multi-track, 4 at best, sometimes 2, often mono...).
All this 'big rig' stuff came later (and the sales of ear plugs soared...).

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[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1336649185' post='1648842']
All this 'big rig' stuff came later (and the sales of ear plugs soared...).
[/quote]
I guess that must be right, but big PA systems we're certainly available by the end of the 60s, as used for Woodstock and the Stones' Hyde Park gigs, to mention just two examples, so there was pretty rapid progress.

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[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1336640008' post='1648656']


Indeed, though they had quite a few years of constant gigging under their belts by the time of this concert.
It would be interesting to know where they were on the '10,000' hours spectrum. ;)

The minimal set-up is amazing though. No wonder they gave up touring within a few years because nobody in the audience could hear anything. Surely decent PA systems were available back then?
[/quote]

I read somewhere that all the giging the did before they broke in the states was approximately 10000 hours. They were used as another example if the 'rule'.

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  • 2 years later...

Great clip, I also thought it was odd that Ringo had to help move the riser. I love this sort of stuff.

I always say to younger people;

[i]"Don't say you don't like The Beatles or I don't get what the big deal was, it makes you sound ignorant. Just say, I am too young to know much about the band.[/i] [i]They broke up long before I was born".[/i]

Blue

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[quote name='blue' timestamp='1416441858' post='2610372']
Great clip, I also thought it was odd that Ringo had to help move the riser. I love this sort of stuff.
[/quote]
As EssentialTension said, Mal Evans was soon up there helping Ringo. Mal was never far away from the boys at that time.

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[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1416444027' post='2610384']
Even more amazing at places like Shea Stadium..................[/quote]

Magic, my Dad took me to the Shea Show. I think the tickets were like $5.35 a bargain. I saw Paul last summer and paid 160.00 for 20th row in front of the stage, still a bargain in my book

I still wear my Shea Blazer and Beatle Boots. :D

Blue

Edited by blue
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[quote name='blue' timestamp='1416451187' post='2610401']
Magic, my Dad took me to the Shea Show. I think the tickets were like $5.35 a bargain. I saw Paul last summer and paid 160.00 for 20th row in front of the stage, still a bargain in my book

I still wear my Shea Blazer and Beatle Boots. :D

Blue
[/quote]That's a great gift from your Dad, Blue. I've often discussed with my peers (I'm mid '40s) how that Shea stadium footage that would crop up on TV throughout the '70s, pretty shoddy documentaries usually, influenced a lot of us to get into bands. I think it was the clip of them walking onstage to 'I feel fine', which I think was from another gig off the same tour, dunno. Even though we were born in the '60s we feel cheated that we missed the '60s if that makes sense.
My 4 year old son enjoys the Shea clips too, I've had to learn a lot of early rock'n'roll from the '50s for a band I'm in and he's loved hearing those great songs. I'm sure there's something in the formative years of rock that communicates well to kids. The closer you are to 'Rocket 88' the better in my book!
Thanks to the OP.
Martin

Edited by The fasting showman
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[quote name='blue' timestamp='1416451187' post='2610401']
Magic, my Dad took me to the Shea Show. I think the tickets were like $5.35 a bargain. I saw Paul last summer and paid 160.00 for 20th row in front of the stage, still a bargain in my book

I still wear my Shea Blazer and Beatle Boots. :D

Blue
[/quote]
I never saw the Fab Four live but saw them a lot when when they were filming Help and A Hard Days Night. My school was a couple of hundred yards from Twickenham Studios. The Beatles homes (4 terraced houses in a row) in Help was in my friends road, The Turks Head pub where Ringo played darts was next to my school, the park where they spell H-E-L-P was near me etc. Hundreds of screaming kids descended on Twickenham Studios when school finished at 4 pm every weekday. So lots of happy memories of those times and places.

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I was only 5 when they split up, although I think they were a huge influence on young bands in years to come. Even if you dont like them, you must accept that before the Beatles nobody wrote their own songs.
BTW I was in Abbey Road studio 2 recently, where they recorded most of their stuff, and I was surprised at how small it was! :D

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