A Cellarful of Noise

Over the next couple of days Liverpool city centre will be hosting the annual Mathew Street Festival, a free music event at which 70+ bands will be playing.

Mathew Street itself is the home of the Cavern Club, the former jazz cellar where, on November 9th 1961, Brian Epstein first saw The Beatles play one of their regular lunchtime sessions. By then, the place was already a hub of the nascent Merseybeat scene with bands including The Swinging Blue Jeans, The Searchers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, The Big Three, King Size Taylor and the Chants all playing regularly.

The Cavern is still a live venue but it isn't strictly the same venue it was in 1961. It closed in 1973 to allow for the construction of the Merseyrail underground loop system and was reconstructed using the original bricks and occupying 75% of the original site, re-opening in 1984.

A similar reconstruction/renovation job is currently taking place at Mathew Street's other legendary venue, Eric's, which is due to re-open any day now. Back in the late 70s it was as important to Liverpool's music scene as the Cavern was in the early 60s and, without it, the world may never have been blessed with the likes of The Teardrop Explodes, Echo and the Bunnymen, Wah! Heat, Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark, Dead or Alive, Big in Japan (featuring future members of The Lightning Seeds, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The KLF and Siouxsie and the Banshees) etc etc. The re-opening has caused quite a lot of controversy with many feeling it's turning what was once a cutting edge scene into a part of the tourist route. A little bit like The Cavern...

For another Beatles-related blip see here.