The Beatles - Live at Washington D.C. (Master Tape)

#otd On This Day (February 11, 1964) The Beatles played at Washington D.C.!

[michaelkornegay]

For those who dog Ringo, he was absolutely the PERFECT drummer (temperament and skill) for the Beatles.

[spockboy]

Ringo's beating those drums like they owe him money : )

[um]

Set List:
2:17 Roll Over Beethoven
4:46 From Me To You
7:31 I Saw Her Standing There
10:54 This Boy
13:44 All My Loving
16:39 I Wanna Be Your Man
19:47 Please Please Me
22:11 Till There Was You
24:20 She Loves You
28:06 I Want To Hold Your Hand
31:32 Twist And Shout
35:12 Long Tall Sally

[teamjay]

A snare, bass, two toms, two cymbals, and a high hat was all Ringo needed to CRUSH it. 👍

[threynolds]

The 16-year-olds in this audience are now 76 (in 2024).

[brijazee]

I second, cleanest version yet. If a kid of today wants to know what was so big about The Beatles, they need to watch this.

[adobedirtblues]

No drum mics, no vocal stage monitors, no ear monitors, no guitar pedals, no backup row of instruments, ready to play in case of a broken string, only two roadies, no banks of backing vocalists, No fireworks, no smoke, no string section, no huge video screens, no spotlights or stage lighting, , No electronic guitar tuners, no synthesizers, no digital mixing board, no Guitar techs, no amp techs, , no personal assistants, no make up and hair, no costume, bodyguards, masseuses, lawyers, drivers, personal chefs….
….. am I leaving anything out?

[cmwfeb]

Being able to play anywhere near in time AND in harmony, in the middle of a screaming arena, without stage monitors is miraculous. These guys were road-worn pros after a solid year of European Beatlemania, as well as a thousand gigs in noisy, crappy clubs in the previous 5 years.

Ringo’s steady time also allowed them, if necessary, to just count beats and get to the chorus together. A solid drummer is often overlooked, but SO essential. Remember, he probably couldn’t hear the other guys, so he had to count and just watch for visual cues.

These guys were experts at generating amazing excitement without pyro, rotating drums, OTT costumes or stage lighting. Truly the greatest band in the world at the time.

[eldiablo]

It blows my mind that they had such primitive live gear and no stage monitors.. girls screaming insanely loud, some of the vocal mics not even working half the time, janky rotating drum riser, drum set on the verge of falling apart.. half the songs the amps are turned away from them and aren't even mic'd up and they still killed it and never missed a beat. Such raw energy! The Beatles had such a punk rock mentality. I can't stress to the ppl who dont play shows on how stressful it is to not be able to hear yourself playing in a live mix, and these guys nailed it.

[RockinSG]

They made me want to play guitar and at 67, I still do!

[mcmc]

Man….trial by fire! Two mics that they have to move themselves between four singers. NO monitors with deafening, screaming fans, UN-miced drums and amps…..Those many years of clubs gigs sure paid off. Amazingly good, considering all that.

[mattc.]

Ringo was an absolute beast back there!

[wtubcgc]

A testament to their amazing talents. No monitors, no prep of sound mix, screwed up stage and drum riser. Ringo like a machine always on beat, fantastic. That’s what playing to rowdy crowds five hours a night in Germany for weeks gets you!

[cornucopia]

Ringo was the beast at this gig. His best playing. Improvise, energetic, hard picking, he is great. And all this on the floating stage!

[PlymouthVT]

Kinda brings you to tears what a beautiful simple innocent bygone era. I was 10 years old when I first heard them on the radio and it was shocking how it affected kids our age. It turned me into a drummer. Super talented guys. Long live Paul & Ringo!!!

[patrickwakefield]

amazing to even play under those conditions.

[moeb]

I love Paul's awkward song introductions, then the song starts and it's like a punch in the gut. Even with the very crude stage technology, when the Beatles started preforming it's a transforming experience. They were way beyond any other artist and sixty years later, this performance is still valid and inspirational.

[kiereluurs]

Makes me aware of their signature manners. The shared microphones, the bows, the head shaking.

[delenelewis]

I was 10 years old and my parents took me to see this concert! We were seated about halfway back from the stage and could see ok, but couldn't really hear well because of all the screaming. Still, it was so exciting to be in the same room as them! It snowed a blizzard that night and my dad put chains on the car and drove us down to the DC Coliseum like a trooper! When they announced "the Beatles!" they sent up a fake group of guys in wigs to fool and distract all the screaming girls while they slipped the real Beatles down the aisle to the stage practically unnoticed. It was chaos for a moment until they took the stage and grabbed their instruments. What a magical memory, and seeing this after all these years is like a dream! Thrilling!

[alrosen]

I am almost 68 years old, and I never saw the Beatles live. This was an incredible show to see and now I feel as if I have gotten to see them live. They were the REAL DEAL! Musically, vocally and personally. Love the Beatles 4EVR