The Cavern Club Liverpool: Home of the Beatles

Last night while watching that documentary about the Beatle's secretary Freda it brought back memories of being in Liverpool a few years ago.  The Beatles were a Liverpool Club Band for their first couple of years.  They now dominate the tourist sites in Liverpool. 

Frida was with the band from the beginning to the end for 11 years.  She originally took over the just-started fan club before they became known outside of Liverpool.   After they had a few hit records, she was hired full-time as the Beatles secretary.  She first met the Beatles at the Cavern club, where they started their journey to fame.   The Beatles performed over 280 times at the Cavern Club, and she said she probably saw 180 of them. 

Every trip to Liverpool would be complete if you didn't make it to the Cavern Club.  After walking across England from Newcastle to Carlisle, I made it a point to stop here for a few days to take in the Beatles sites.  The Cavern Club sits on historic Mathew Street in Liverpool.  The street has changed from a commercial district back in the 1960s to a street party scene, much like bourbon street in New Orleans.  The Cavern Club is named appropriately because it sits in a basement of a building, and it looks like a cave once you're inside.

Before arriving in Liverpool, I bought a ticket to a Beatles cover band that performs regularly at the Cavern.  I get there well before the show starts.  I enter the doorway, walk down the stairs, and join a line waiting to get into the actual club.  It's tight and crowded before the doors open for the show.  We are let into a bar area with a small stage on which the Beatles used to perform.  The actual performance will be in a larger location in another room in the basement.  After watching a warm-up act in that room, we a directed into the basement hall where the show is performed.

The show is performed in three acts.  The early Beatles year, the middle years, and the later years.  It's a long and good show, with the actors interacting with the audience like they were the Beatles.  It was a fun time and something that I'll never forget. 

Over the next few days, I walk around Liverpool.  I see the Beatles statue in the park and go to the Beatles Museum on the waterfront.  Liverpool, during World War II, was heavily bombed because of being a strategic seaport.  The downtown was rebuilt and is completely modern.  It's a great town, a place I'd love to return to someday.