The Beatles are coming back to D.C.!
Well, sort of.
On February 11, 2014, 50 years to the day after the Fab Four played its first gig in North America at the Washington Coliseum – also known as Uline Arena – the Beatles tribute act Beatlemania Now will perform the exact set list from February 11, 1964.
“Yesterday & Today” will start precisely at 8:31pm, the time the Beatles took the stage before a slew of screaming fans that long-ago night. The Beatles’ opening act from the 1964 show –
Tommy Roe – will be on hand to perform the same set he did 50 years ago.
There wasn’t an array of food trucks in ’64, but there will be on Tuesday. Also on view will be an exhibition of photographer Mike Mitchell’s images from the historic gig.
Tickets -- $45 for general admission standing room, and $100 for seats -- benefit the
DC Preservation League, which in partnership with Douglas Development Corp., which acquired the Uline in 2006, is producing the show.
Preceding Roe’s set, there will be a 15-minute documentary about the history of the Washington Coliseum/Uline Arena from construction to the present day.
Bring your long underwear, says Mike LaRosa, founder of Wayfarer Advisory Group, a D.C. firm that has been instrumental in securing partnerships and managing public relations for the event. “There’s no heating in Uline, but Douglas Development did repave the floor” in advance of Tuesday’s event, he said.
Minor upgrades have also been completed in the original ticket lobby and around the VIP entrance. Staging the event in a rather “raw” space is a goal of the organizers, LaRosa added.
Douglas Development is working on future plans to redevelop the Uline into a mixed-used retail/office structure. Tuesday night, though, will be all about the rock-and-roll past.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, the words “All You Need is Love,” will be projected on the rooftop of Uline tonight through February 14. The projection is organized by the NoMa BID with aid from One NoMa Station and Jones Lang LaSalle.
Tickets are available
here. Elevation DC's photo gallery of the history of Uline--from ice skating to basketball to go-go--is
here.