Dwarf Planet in Purple

To honor what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday, I am posting links to a wonderful set of photos of the Beatles' February 1964 visit to Washington, D.C., immediately after their famous appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

http://1stusvisit.absoluteelsewhere.net/WashingtonDC/washington_dc.html

(This is part of a much larger site about John Lennon.)

Since it was snowing, the Beatle entourage took the train from NYC to Union Station. This had the added advantage of putting them only a few blocks from the arena where they were going to give their concert, instead of on the opposite side of the Potomac River. (Remember, these guys attracted huge flocks of screaming girls wherever they went, so it was kinda hard for them to move around.)

I'd never seen any of these photos before I stumbled across them last night, so I was captivated by them. On the train ride, the Fab Four were obviously hamming it up for the photographers, yet they also seemed to be having casual fun. After all, at that time, they weren't much older than frat boys! (And, hey, train travel has certainly changed over the years, hasn't it? They don't make trains like that anymore, at least on our side of the pond!)

The sightseeing photos are cool because you can see the Beatles in front of federal buildings that still exist today -- and the District government wasn't any better at cleaning the streets in 1964 than it is today!

Finally, it's fascinating to see the Fab Four take the stage with their primitive equipment. If anybody's curious about the building where they were playing, the Washington Coliseum (formerly Uline Arena) ... it still stands but is used as a warehouse/garage and is pretty rundown-looking. You can see it from Metro's Red Line. It's a pity it hasn't been refurbished. It might be too small for modern rock concerts, but it would be a great space for some sort of arts center.