It doesn’t matter what year you were born or which music you prefer — most will recognize the Beatles’ iconic tune ‘Come Together’ after a few bars of George Harrison on the guitar.

It’s the inspiration and the centerpiece of Kirkland Performance Center’s upcoming benefit celebration, a new twist on a tried-and-true fundraising method, set for Friday evening.

“As KPC grows and evolves as an organization, we’ll always do performing arts things, but the space is being used by different partnerships,” KPC Executive Director Jeff Lockhart said. “It’s become more of a gathering space where people express themselves creatively — business meetings, educational forums, community groups, recording and producing. It’s a venue that people gather together in a creative space.”

Kirkland Performance Center typically holds an auction and gala, but fundraisers are rarely held at KPC itself. “Come Together” is simply an extension of the mission to bring in different corners of the community, Lockhart said, and the Beatles-themed party and concert are a blueprint for events in the future.

The benefit opens with a party — champagne and light fare — at 6:30 p.m., followed by a performance by one of the most well-known Beatles tribute bands in the Pacific Northwest: Kirkland-based Creme Tangerine.

All five members, including Lockhart, lived in Kirkland when the band was founded, and the band still introduces itself as being from Kirkland, Wash. at concerts around the region. The group features Byron Prather on lead vocals and guitar, Chuck Dorsett on keyboards, Tim Mushen on guitar and vocals and Warren Kinser on bass.

Lockhart still lives in Kirkland and teaches at Northwest University, in addition to his duties at KPC.

Creme Tangerine is known for concerts atop Seattle’s Pike Place Market, celebrating the Beatles’ famous final concert on a rooftop in London in 1969.

The event will help raise funds for KPC, which is one of few public performance venues on the Eastside and has had more than 800,000 visitors since opening in 1998.

Lockhart said KPC hopes to hold similar benefit events throughout the year, bringing in a group and building a special fundraiser around the performance.

VIP tickets are already sold out, and just over 30 general admission tickets are still available as of Feb. 21. Tickets are $75, of which $30 is tax-deductible as a donation to Kirkland Performance Center.