4 November 1974 | Live performance | Seattle, Washington, USA | By Beatles Fabdom
George Harrison and Ravi Shankar performed at Seattle Center Coliseum on 4 November 1974, the second date of their North American tour. Following the opening concert at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum on 2 November, Seattle marked the tour’s arrival in the United States.
The programme brought together Harrison’s Beatles and solo songs, Billy Preston’s soul and keyboard performances, Tom Scott’s jazz contributions and a substantial section featuring Shankar’s Indian ensemble. The 1974 concerts were Harrison’s first North American tour as a solo artist and the first North American concert tour by any former Beatle.
| Date | 4 November 1974 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Seattle Center Coliseum |
| Location | Seattle, Washington, United States |
| Tour | George Harrison and Ravi Shankar’s 1974 North American tour, commonly called the Dark Horse Tour |
| Position in itinerary | Second concert date; first United States stop |
| Tour span | 2 November–20 December 1974 |
| Tour scale | 45 performances across 30 dates in 26 cities |
| Opening number | Hari’s On Tour (Express) |
| Closing number | My Sweet Lord |
From Vancouver to Seattle: the Dark Horse Tour reaches America
The tour had opened in Vancouver two days earlier. Harrison returned to large-scale concert performance with a sizeable band rather than a small rock group, and he shared the programme with Ravi Shankar. Their collaboration had already led to the Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971; the 1974 tour took that musical partnership on the road through Canada and the United States.
Harrison’s new Dark Horse Records label provided another connection between the performers. Shankar was among its first artists, and his Shankar Family & Friends album brought Indian and Western musicians together. The concerts included that same combination of ensembles performing independently and together.
The name Dark Horse also connected the tour to Harrison’s forthcoming album. Although the concerts began in November, the Dark Horse LP did not arrive until December 1974. Seattle therefore heard the title track, “Māya Love” and the opening instrumental “Hari’s On Tour (Express)” before the album’s release.
George Harrison’s Seattle band
The group surrounding Harrison included established jazz, soul and rock musicians. Billy Preston had worked with The Beatles and was also a successful solo performer. Robben Ford shared guitar duties with Harrison, while Tom Scott, Jim Horn and Chuck Findley provided the horn and flute parts. Willie Weeks and Andy Newmark formed the bass-and-drums partnership.
| Musician | Instruments and role |
|---|---|
| George Harrison | Vocals; electric and acoustic guitars |
| Billy Preston | Vocals; keyboards, organ and clavinet |
| Robben Ford | Guitars and backing vocals |
| Tom Scott | Saxophones and flute |
| Jim Horn | Saxophones and flute |
| Chuck Findley | Trumpet and flute |
| Willie Weeks | Bass guitar |
| Andy Newmark | Drums |
| Emil Richards | Marimba and percussion |
| Kumar Shankar | Percussion and vocals |
Jim Keltner joined the tour on 27 November. Andy Newmark was Harrison’s drummer for the Seattle concert.
Ravi Shankar’s orchestra
Shankar’s musicians were a central part of the programme. The tour brought together voices, bowed and plucked strings, bamboo flute and several percussion traditions. Lakshmi Shankar sang and played swarmandal, Alla Rakha played tabla, and Hariprasad Chaurasia contributed bansuri. Shivkumar Sharma’s santoor, Sultan Khan’s sarangi and L. Subramaniam’s South Indian violin expanded the instrumental range.
| Musician | Instruments and role |
|---|---|
| Ravi Shankar | Sitar and direction |
| Lakshmi Shankar | Vocals and swarmandal |
| Alla Rakha | Tabla |
| T. V. Gopalkrishnan | Vocals, mridangam and khanjira |
| Hariprasad Chaurasia | Bansuri |
| Shivkumar Sharma | Santoor and vocals |
| Kartick Kumar | Sitar |
| Sultan Khan | Sarangi |
| Gopal Krishan | Vichitra veena and vocals |
| L. Subramaniam | South Indian violin |
| Satyadev Pawar | North Indian violin |
| Rijram Desad | Pakavaj, dholki, nagada, huduk and duff |
| Kamalesh Maitra | Tabla tarang, duggi tarang and madal tarang |
| Harihar Rao | Kartal, manjira, dholak, gubgubbi and vocals |
| Viji Shankar | Tambura and vocals |
The Harrison–Shankar partnership had developed over several years. Earlier episodes in that story include their joint press conference on 3 August 1967 and Harrison’s involvement in filming Shankar’s Raga in June 1968.
Seattle concert setlist
- Hari’s On Tour (Express)
- Something
- While My Guitar Gently Weeps
- Will It Go Round In Circles — Billy Preston
- Sue Me, Sue You Blues
- Zoom Zoom Zoom — Ravi Shankar
- Jai Sri Kalij — Ravi Shankar
- Na Na Dahni — Ravi Shankar
- Cheparte — Ravi Shankar
- Anurag — Ravi Shankar
- Dispute And Violence — Ravi Shankar
- I Am Missing You — Ravi Shankar
- For You Blue
- Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)
- Sound Stage Of Mind
- In My Life
- Tom Cat — Tom Scott and LA Express
- Māya Love
- Nothing From Nothing — Billy Preston
- Dark Horse
- Outa-Space — Billy Preston
- What Is Life
- My Sweet Lord
Beatles songs and Harrison’s solo repertoire
“Something”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “For You Blue” represented Harrison’s songwriting for The Beatles. “In My Life”, originally a Lennon–McCartney song on Rubber Soul, also featured in his programme. The remainder of Harrison’s selections drew on the solo records he had made since the group’s separation.
“What Is Life” and “My Sweet Lord” came from All Things Must Pass. “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)” and “Sue Me, Sue You Blues” connected the performance to Living In The Material World, whose American release had followed in May 1973. The new Dark Horse material sat alongside those established recordings.
Seattle’s set differed from the opening night. Vancouver had included “The Lord Loves The One (That Loves The Lord)” and “Who Can See It”; neither appears in the Seattle sequence. Shankar’s pieces were grouped into the central section of the Seattle programme, followed by Harrison’s return with “For You Blue”.
Billy Preston and Tom Scott’s featured performances
Preston performed three of his own familiar numbers: “Will It Go Round In Circles”, “Nothing From Nothing” and the instrumental “Outa-Space”. His role extended beyond accompanying Harrison. These songs gave him distinct featured moments within a programme shared by several musical leaders.
Tom Scott and LA Express were represented by “Tom Cat”. Scott also played within Harrison’s band, where the horn section and Emil Richards’s percussion helped distinguish the concert arrangements from a conventional two-guitar rock line-up.
The tour’s early reception
Harrison began the tour with a hoarse voice after a demanding period of recording and rehearsals. The opening concerts drew criticism over his singing and the programme’s balance between rock songs and Indian music. Contemporary reviewer Ben Fong-Torres, writing in Rolling Stone on 19 December 1974, described those difficulties at Vancouver and the mixed audience response to Shankar’s section.
The Vancouver report also discussed the strength of the supporting musicians. It is useful context for the adjustments between the first and second dates, rather than a review of Seattle itself. The Seattle programme retained the central idea of the tour: Harrison’s songs, featured contributions from his band and Shankar’s music presented within the same concert.
The collaboration can also be seen in surviving tour film. The official George Harrison archive has shared a performance of “Dispute and Violence” filmed in Toronto on 6 December 1974, with Harrison playing alongside Shankar’s musicians.
Dark Horse designs inspired by Harrison’s label
The horse emblem remains closely associated with Harrison’s record label. Explore the George Harrison Dark Horse blue pullover hoodie, featuring the white horse-and-circle design.
Seattle Center Coliseum: the historic concert site
The concert took place at Seattle Center Coliseum, the former World’s Fair building later known as KeyArena. The site is now Climate Pledge Arena, extensively rebuilt beneath the retained historic roof. Seattle Center’s history distinguishes the Coliseum from the separate former Civic Arena.
The present address for the Coliseum site is 334 1st Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA. The map identifies that arena site, with the current venue name.
Open the former Seattle Center Coliseum site in Google Maps.
Complete Dark Horse Tour itinerary, 1974
The North American tour comprised 45 performances across 30 concert dates in 26 cities. Dates with two shows are marked below.
| Date | City | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 2 November | Vancouver | Pacific Coliseum |
| 4 November | Seattle | Seattle Center Coliseum |
| 6 November | Daly City | Cow Palace |
| 7 November | Daly City | Cow Palace |
| 8 November — two shows | Oakland | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena |
| 10 November | Long Beach | Long Beach Arena |
| 11 November | Inglewood | The Forum |
| 12 November — two shows | Inglewood | The Forum |
| 14 November — two shows | Tucson | Tucson Community Center |
| 16 November | Salt Lake City | Salt Palace |
| 18 November — two shows | Denver | Denver Coliseum |
| 20 November | St. Louis | St. Louis Arena |
| 21 November | Tulsa | Tulsa Assembly Center |
| 22 November | Fort Worth | Tarrant County Convention Center |
| 24 November — two shows | Houston | Hofheinz Pavilion |
| 26 November | Baton Rouge | LSU Assembly Center |
| 27 November | Memphis | Mid-South Coliseum |
| 28 November — two shows | Atlanta | Omni Coliseum |
| 30 November — two shows | Chicago | Chicago Stadium |
| 4 December — two shows | Detroit | Olympia Stadium |
| 6 December — two shows | Toronto | Maple Leaf Gardens |
| 8 December — two shows | Montreal | Montreal Forum |
| 10 December — two shows | Boston | Boston Garden |
| 11 December | Providence | Providence Civic Center |
| 13 December — two shows | Landover | Capital Centre |
| 15 December — two shows | Uniondale | Nassau Coliseum |
| 16 December | Philadelphia | Spectrum |
| 17 December — two shows | Philadelphia | Spectrum |
| 19 December | New York City | Madison Square Garden |
| 20 December — two shows | New York City | Madison Square Garden |
George Harrison Dark Horse Logo T-shirt
The Dark Horse Logo black T-shirt pairs the horse design on the front with a red Om symbol on the back.
Frequently asked questions
When did George Harrison perform in Seattle in 1974?
George Harrison and Ravi Shankar performed at Seattle Center Coliseum on 4 November 1974, the second date of their North American tour.
Was Seattle the first American stop on the Dark Horse Tour?
Yes. The tour opened in Vancouver, Canada, on 2 November; Seattle was the first United States stop.
Which Beatles songs did George Harrison play in Seattle?
The set included Something, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, For You Blue and In My Life.
Who played drums at the Seattle concert?
Andy Newmark played drums in Harrison’s band. Jim Keltner joined the tour later, on 27 November.
Had the Dark Horse album been released?
No. The album was released in December 1974, after the Seattle concert.
What is Seattle Center Coliseum called today?
The site is now Climate Pledge Arena, following major reconstruction beneath its retained historic roof. It was also previously known as KeyArena.
Official album context: Dark Horse. Venue history: Seattle Center. Contemporary tour review: Ben Fong-Torres, Rolling Stone, 19 December 1974.
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