On August 21, 1964, the Beatles gave their first concert in Washington State, to more than 14,000 screaming fans at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Nineteen-year-old photographer and Seattle native Timothy Eagan found himself near the edge of the stage, thanks to a press pass from a family friend. The young photographer shot three rolls of film of the concert that evening. Eagan continued his photography practice professionally, working first for the local Seattle P.I newspaper, and later for a photo agency in New York City. In this photo, an uncharacteristically subdued-looking Ringo Starr plays his signature Ludwig Black Oyster Pearl drum kit during the bands 29-minute set. The Beatles' stage at the Coliseum was raised 12 feet above the original stage in order to protect the Beatles from the audience; Ringo's platform rose another several feet above that. Nevertheless, when Ringo started his vocal solo on the song "Boys," one fan, a girl in a green sweater, managed to sneak through the police cordon around the stage and "wasn't nabbed until she was at the feet of her heroes on stage." Obviously, the fans really loved the relatively rare occasions when Ringo sang solo for the band.

Caption information source: "It's Calm, and Then the Beatles Appeared," bu John Voorhees, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 22, 1964, p. 6.