For the Beatles cover band Creme Tangerine, this year has been a commemorative one.

It began in January, when the Kirkland band teamed up to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Beatles last performance for a rooftop concert on the balcony of the Copacabana Cafe in Seattle’s Pike Place Market.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels proclaimed Jan. 30 as “Beatles Rooftop Concert/Apple Records Day.”

Amid the packed fans that howled in the closed-off streets was Northwest University President Joseph Castleberry, and several campus professors.

“They’re all fans of the band now,” recalled the band’s drummer, Jeff Lockhart, who is also a Northwest University alumnus and the school’s current assistant vice president for development.

The 1989 alumnus and the other members of Creme Tangerine will rock the campus this week in celebration of the college’s 75th anniversary. The free concert that begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24 and is open to the public, will be performed in the school’s amphitheater, known as “The Green.” The campus is located at 5520 108th Ave. N.E.

Three of the five band members are Northwest University alumni, including Lockhart, keyboard player and ’93 graduate Chuck Dorsett and bass player Dustin Shirley, who graduated in 1996.

“Northwest has been a part of my life since I was like 18. It’s just a good place,” said Lockhart, a Biblical Literature major.

On a recent afternoon, Lockhart walked the campus, describing its rich 75-year history. The campus was originally located in Seattle, but moved to Kirkland after the organization bought the whole 60 acres of World War II Navy surplus for 99 cents.

Now, about 1400 undergrad and graduate students attend the Christian coeducational institution that overs 53 majors.

The campus is also adjusting to life after the Seahawks, which had a training facility on campus. The school is currently remodeling the Seahawks’ former weight room for students to use.

With a view of the Seahawks’ old training field, Lockhart is enjoying his office in the new administrative building.

“It’s just been a huge shot in the arm for us,” he said of the Seahawks facility.

Lockhart says the concert this Thursday will not only commemorate Northwest University’s long history in Kirkland, but it is also a way of saying the school is there.

He also said he is honored that President Joseph Castleberry invited Creme Tangerine to play.

“As an alumnus, I believe in Northwest and it’s been a big influence on my life. To be a part of such a big day for the Northwest and be representatives with music that everybody knows and loves is really cool,” Lockhart added.