Format: Music Show
Genre: Music
Date: January 16 2017
Location: Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
On January 16 1957, the Cavern Club opened in Liverpool and, in the years that followed, it became the hottest place to be due to the increasingly-popular musical acts who would perform there, not least The Beatles who made it something of a spiritual home en route to becoming the most famous band of all-time. Although it was closed in 1973, it re-opened in 1984 and, since then, it has continued to act as a vital step along the way for inexperienced yet talented acts to make their names before becoming major stars in their own right.
To mark 60 years of the Cavern, a special show was held across two nights at the Philharmonic Hall. I was fortunate enough to attend the second evening, on the very date of the Cavern's Diamond Anniversary, which began specifically at 19:57 in line with the year of its foundation. Although I am too young to remember the Cavern at its 1960s peak, many of those in attendance were not, but regardless of age, this was a very enjoyable trip down memory lane.
The Overtures, a well-known 60s tribute band, were on hand to perform many hits from a large variety of artists. Of course, The Beatles were represented with several numbers, but the producers deserve credit for not making this solely a homage to the Fab Four, great as they were, because as mentioned earlier, the Cavern played host to many famous performers. Amongst those who were spotlighted, generally consisting of their most famous songs, were The Hollies, The Kinks, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Herman's Hermits and many others. A number of guests joined the fray to provide a more faithful rendition of hits from the likes of Cilla Black (whose statue was unveiled by the Cavern earlier in the day), The Rolling Stones and Queen.
It wasn't just local acts who played the Cavern though, and it weren't just British performers either. As the poularity and name value of the Cavern grew, big stars from across the pond came over, wanting to add the famous club to their own resume. Some of those included Stevie Wonder and Chuck Berry, who were also represented. The later stages of the show spotlighted major names from the latter 20th century including Status Quo, Rod Stewart and Oasis, and just before a big finale with Hey Jude, recent stars like The Arctic Monkeys, Adele and Jake Bugg were paid tribute to with their most famous numbers.
The show made good use of colourful strobe lighting, as well as video footage and photographs on screen which not only book-ended sections of the show, but also served to illustrate the actual posters used to promote many of the Cavern gigs. And there was additional variety: In My Life was performed as an instrumental, and a rendition of All Shook Up had me wondering what it would have been like if Elvis Presley, the only musical performer whose name value can match or better that of The Beatles, had performed live from the Cavern.
It's hard to pick out a particularly strong song or performance, simply because the standard was very high across the whole show. It was very much a tribute to all of the aforementioned bands and solo artists, as opposed to an attempt to bring something completely different to a classic hit (besides the instrumental for All My Life, which flowed perfectly with video footage of the destruction of the original Cavern). The wise choice of wigs and costumes during certain tunes added to the feeling that this was a real journey through not only the Cavern itself, but British music history as a whole, since so many performers spanning seven decades have performed there.
Whether you visited the Cavern back in the day or if you were learning about its history for the first time, and regardless of whether you were around during the rise of The Beatles, the evolution of British music in the 1970s and 1980s or if your only connection to the songs being performed came from those artists who have only garnered fame in recent years, this was a thoroughly entertaining nostalgia trip, and a reminder that as much as the world may change, the music industry will always have its strongest ties to Liverpool, and the Cavern Club was, is and will always be the focal point of the world's most famous musical city.
Overall Rating: 9/10 - Outstanding
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