The Beatles made their historic American concert debut at the Washington Coliseum before a capacity crowd of 8,092 fans.

Their journey to the capital began early that morning by train from New York, as a fierce East Coast blizzard had grounded all flights. Upon pulling into Union Station, the Fab Four were met by a sea of 2,000 screaming supporters who had braved the heavy snow.

The day’s busy schedule included a press conference and a visit to WWDC, the very first American radio station to broadcast their music. To ensure their privacy, the band and their team booked the entire seventh floor of the Shoreham Hotel to keep the crowds at bay.

The main event took place that evening at the Coliseum, a venue typically used for boxing matches. After another round of questions from the press, the band prepared for a show that had been slightly altered by the weather; while Tommy Roe performed, The Chiffons were replaced by Jay & The Americans and The Righteous Brothers due to travel delays.

Taking the stage at 8:31 p.m., the group roared through a 12-song set featuring…

Setlist:

Roll Over Beethoven

From Me to You

I Saw Her Standing There

This Boy

All My Loving

I Wanna Be Your Man

Please Please Me

Till There Was You

She Loves You

I Want to Hold Your Hand

Twist and Shout

Long Tall Sally

Because the stage was set in the center of the arena, the band had to perform “in the round,” leading to a unique logistical challenge where Ringo Starr’s drum platform had to be manually rotated several times throughout the night so different sections of the audience could see. The performance wasn’t without its hiccups; George Harrison struggled with a broken microphone, and the band was pelted with jelly beans by fans who had heard they were their favorite snack. Despite the chaos, the show was captured on film for later cinema screenings across the country.

After the concert, they attended a reception in their honor, a charity reception at the British Embassy that didn’t go very well. “In the early ’60s, there was still a huge gap between people from the North of England and the ‘embassy types’,” Ringo said in Anthology. “But we went. God knows why. Maybe because we had suddenly become ambassadors and they wanted to see us, and I think Brian [Epstein] liked the idea that it was a ‘big moment’.

The night ended on a sour note, however; after attending a charity reception at the British Embassy, an overzealous guest snuck up and clipped a lock of Ringo’s hair. Furious at the lack of respect and security, the band walked out, vowing to never attend such a formal diplomatic function again.