Fan remember Portland

“My father bought front row seats.  I wore a dress and specifically added a blue bow on it because I knew Paul liked blue.   By the end of the concert, my whole dress was wet from my tears.   It was total pandemonium but that was the biggest day of my life.” –Marylyn

I was only 8years old but I remember is very clear, I was at the first show with just my sister who was 11 years old, my mom just dropped us off out front and said to meet her back here at the same place after the show.We had the free tickets up in the nose bleed area. The guys were very hard to hear cus of all the girls screaming. The only real song I remember being able to hear was from Ringo Starr, the guys asked us to be quiet and give Ringo a chance to sing one.  -  Scott

The idea of breathing the same air as Paul McCartney was exciting.  Back then, it was still a big deal to drive to go to the Lloyd Center, The Coliseum itself had been open for just five years. We had a sign on our car, 'Paul and Beatles or bust' on I-5.  I think we started screaming from the time we found our seats until it was over– Betty

My mom bought me four tickets as a surprise, and I took my best buddy and our dates.  We were not yet 16 so we were dropped off at the coliseum and then walked home  -- a fairly long walk. – anonymous 

They had to bail on the limousine because, as my grandfather said, there was no way a limo was going to get through Portland with the Beatles in town.  So, they switched them out, put all four of them in my grandfather's police car (MCSDR) and had him run them to the Coliseum or hotel or wherever they were going.  In the back of the police car, one of them ("he wasn't the one with glasses") fired up a joint. My grandfather said "I don't know what's legal in your country, but, I can't have you smoking that in a police car."  He said they put it out and were very polite.    "They were very nice boys." To this day, I have no idea which Beatle rode in the front seat of the patrol car with my grandfather, but, he described them as strikingly-young compared to other huge celebrities like Elvis.

I was there for the afternoon show.  It lasted less than 40 minutes, but it was some of the best "less than 40 minutes" I can recall.  The place was seriously nuts...you really couldn't hear much above the screaming, but that didn't matter.  IT WAS THE BEATLES!  - “Yardbird”

I was there for that afternoon concert. My step-sister had a friend in Salem who couldn't attend (KSLM contest tickets?) and she offered them to my step-sister a few hours before the concert kicked off. My step-sister asked me, a mere 10 year old, if I wanted to go with her to see the Beatles. I said "yes". My dad, her step-dad, drove us up to Portland. It was all quite exciting. Our very first concert!After the opening acts the screaming and crying escalated to a fever pitch. We were surrounded by mostly girls and young women up in the last rows of the Coliseum. Everyone was screaming and crying uncontrollably...including myself. I was swept up in the emotion. Eerie feeling. I have never experienced that since. – anonymous