When the Beatles performed at the Seattle Center Coliseum on the third stop of their world tour, the local news coverage of the event largely ignored the musical performance in favor of writing about the antics and reactions of the fans. Headlines the day after the event set the tone: "Beatles' Fans Stir Terrifying Noise, Danger"""Beatles Sing, Fans Weep in Ecstasy"; and "14,045 Hear Selves at Beatles' Concert in Center." In a front page Seattle Times story headlined "Beatlemania Frightens Child Expert," parents read that "normally recognizable girls behaved as if possessed by some demonic urge, defying in emotional ecstasy the restraints which authorities tried to place on them." The reports weren't all hyperbole, however: at least 35 young women were treated for "hysteria" at the Coliseum, with another two fans sustaining injuries requiring hospitalization. The Fire and Police Departments managed the busy first aid room in the Coliseum, and five ambulance and a life-rescue unit were parked on the grounds. In this photo, taken by nineteen-year-old Seattle native Timothy Eagan, two men carry away a swooning girl shortly after the Beatles made their last bows and left the stage. Eagan, who was given a press pass by a family friend, went on to pursue a professional career in photography. These photographs of the Beatles concert were rediscovered after his death in 1993.

Caption information source: Seattle Times, August 22, 1964, p. 1; Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 22, 1964 p. 1