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Welcome to International Beatle Week 2016 | |||||||||||||
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WEDNESDAY |
What
is Beatle Week? It’s very hard to describe unless you have
actually experienced it, but in a nut shell it is the
biggest celebration of the music of The Beatles anywhere in
the world, and fittingly it is hosted in the City where it
all began – LIVERPOOL. Seven days and nights of madness
and mayhem during EVERY waking hour. Organised by Cavern
City Tours (Regional Tour Operator of the Year on six
occasions), it features over two hundred bands from twenty
countries and attended by fans from over forty countries.
Truly an International Festival combining live music,
exhibitions, guests, a convention, flea market, video shows,
tours, etc., etc. If you are a Beatle fan then this is for
you. If you are a general music fan then this is also for
you, as the weekend features bands covering other icons,
such as Elvis, The Who, The Stones, Queen etc. It also
highlights newer, more contemporary music throughout the
Mathew Street Festival area on the Monday. The whole weekend
kicks off in style at the Cavern Pub on Wednesday and who
better to host it than Merseyside’s very own Lennon’s
Magic Elbow, a free gig at The Cavern Pub during the
evening! 2 AUGUST |
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THURSDAY |
The
music continues throughout the day and night at the Cavern
Pub and, of course, on the two stages at the Cavern Club
across the road. However, the highlight of the day will be
Sir Frankie Crisp from Italy and Nube 9 from Argentina, who
will perform a tribute to the Traveling Wilburys which
featured George Harrison and Bob Dylan to name but two. This
will be the first time that the Beatles Festival has
featured a tribute to the Wilburys in a concert and all I
can say is that it is about time! The evening at the Cavern
Club will, of course, feature another five bands who will
all be playing the music of The Beatles: a great start to
the weekend. |
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FRIDAY |
Friday’s
show begins in great style in the Adelphi Ballroom with a
celebration of the solo musical career of all four Beatles. Wingspan, from the UK, will pay tribute to the mid-’70s
with their very own Rockshow and Cloud 9 from Argentina will
perform the whole of George’s "All Things Must
Pass" album. We will have an All Starr Band to
celebrate Ringo’s career and it will be rounded off by
Instant Karma USA who will play their favourite Lennon album
"Walls and Bridges". A great way to remind
ourselves what a rich solo catalogue they had which compares
favourably with the more lauded and famous Fabs work. The
evening show will be at the Academy and will be an official
Cavern 50th Anniversary Concert, one of many during the
year. Why not stage it at The Cavern then? Quite simply we
couldn’t get everybody in, so we are holding this
particular gig in what we believe has the best Cavern
ambience out of all the larger venues. Of course you will
expect Beatles music and Run Devil Run, but we will also
have short sets from other Cavern Bands, including The Who,
The Rolling Stones and Queen tribute bands; a real musical
treat! At the Adelphi at midnight the main ballroom will be
turned into a cinema for a private showing of Hard Day’s
Night, and Fridays bar will continue the theme of "The
Beatles at the Movies" with bands playing sets from
"Help!", "Yellow Submarine", "Let
It Be" and "Magical Mystery Tour". Of course,
the other Adelphi bars will be alive with the sound of
Beatle music until the wee small hours. A great beginning to
a fab weekend of celebrations. |
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SATURDAY |
Saturday
morning is auction time, which is organised by The Beatles
Shop (0151 236 8066) and is always a huge attraction as fans
try to get a bargain. The spiritual home for the auction is
LIPA (Paul and George’s old school) and entrance includes
a catalogue for the auction. "It was forty years ago
today that Sgt Pepper taught the band to play." It has
been well documented that Penny Lane and Strawberry Field
were the first two songs penned for what became known as the
album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Later they
were identified as singles and were left off the album. So
in tribute to the singles and the album, forty years on
Cavern City Tours are arranging a Penny Lane Festival.
Inclusive of outside stages and events in the area and
incorporating bars and restaurants which will feature live
Beatles music, the day is sure to be one to remember. Where
do you begin? The barber, the fire station, the shelter on
the roundabout, St. Barnabas Church where Paul was a
choirboy (and best man for his brother Mike), Newcastle Road
(John’s first home), Dovedale School (John and George’s
primary school, as well as Jimmy Tarbuck’s!), Penny Lane
Wine Bar - the list is endless. Access to Dovedale School is
exclusive solely to people on a Cavern City Tour and
includes return transport from the Adelphi Hotel to and from
the area. The area is steeped in Beatles folklore (Brian
Epstein’s school and the original lyrics to In My Life),
the list is endless. This is their territory, their old
stomping ground and we really will be following in the
footsteps of The Beatles. The evening show at the Empire is
one we are really looking forward to as we have been trying
for nigh on 20 years to get America’s premier boots ’n’
suits tribute band "Rain" from California over to
Beatleweek and we have finally succeeded. Their multi media
stage show is one to behold and will reinforce why the band
have long since been recognised as one of the very, very
best. Let’s hope it leads to this being an annual affair
as I know that once you have seen them there will be a
clamour to get them back. Pause for breath? No, there’s no
time; it’s back to the Adelphi for a party till the wee
small hours. The theme for the bands for this party (in four
separate bars) is 800 years of Liverpool’s musical
heritage. Apart from a couple of sea shanties, rest assured
that it may well indeed concentrate on the last forty-four
years and, in particular, on four lads who shook the world!
We do not need an excuse to party at Beatleweek, but we do
have one (or several) this year! ST |
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SUNDAY |
Sunday
is traditionally Convention Day and this year is no
exception. It will begin at 10am and finish at midnight. We
will be lucky to get everything in with nearly 50 bands in a
day on four stages, plus a flea market, an exhibition, guest
interviews, video and film room and surprises galore. The
Convention Day is jam packed with something for everybody
although you will find it absolutely impossible to do
everything in the fourteen hours. Just when you think it’s
all over . . think again! At midnight the Cavern Club hosts
the Second Annual Prellies all-nighter. The Prellies are a
relatively young, high-energy Hamburg type Beatles band who
have developed a reputation for being one of the very best
and most popular Beatles bands in the world. The Cavern
allnighters were legendary and The Prellies’ first
all-nighter last year is the stuff that legends are made of.
There was a huge demand for another one and who are we to
argue? The Prellies’ theme this year is "Friends of
the Earth" and, in particular, tree preservation.
Sounds strange? You should have been there! It was a
highlight last year and WILL be this year. Promise! An
historic day and night (24 hours from ulcers!) |
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MONDAY |
If it’s Monday
it must be the final day of Mathew Street Festival, the
biggest City Centre-based free music festival in Europe.
Typically attracting 300,000 people to the City and
featuring over 200 bands of every musical persuasion.
Whatever your taste in music, there is something here for
you – with the magnificent City Centre architecture as the
backdrop, the streets of Liverpool are closed down to
traffic and the outside stages pulsate to the sounds of
rock, pop, swing, jazz, country, punk, Ska, indie and of
course . . . The Beatles, which always has its own dedicated
stage. Every pub, club and restaurant joins in the fun and
the City Centre is just one huge party zone throughout the
day into the early evening. Yes, and unbelievably it’s all
F-R-E-E-!!! As the day’s entertainment comes to a close it
is time to get down to the Empire Theatre for the finale
concert. And what a finale it is! As the Mathew Street
Festival draws to a close you had better get yourselves
quickly over to the Empire Theatre (a venue played by The
Beatles and both Ringo and Paul as solo artistes, not to
mention George with Delaney and Bonnie). Merseybeat pays a
tribute to the city that gave it its unique sound. The
heroes of the Sixties bid a Happy Birthday to Liverpool in
their own inimitable style. An all-star cast, including The
Undertakers, Karl Terry and The Cruisers,
Mike Pender’s Searchers, and Gerry and The
Pacemakers. We
intend to add more to this all-star cast. This truly is
World Music, a sound that when you hear it could only be
indigenous to this city. When the show finishes there will
be barely an hour to ready ourselves for the countdown to
the city’s 800th birthday - and who else could we get to
start the party? The Overtures! The Overtures are Europe’s
premier ’60s tribute band: why else would Elton and David
choose them for their wedding? Why else would we choose them
to play our VIP party? The Overtures will take us on a
musical journey with a multi-media backdrop.What a day! What
a night! What a weekend! |
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TUESDAY |
Historically,
Tuesday used to be wind down day – not any more. There
will still be time to catch over 25 bands at The Cavern Club
and Cavern Pub!! The highlight however, is usually the
"Farewell Liverpool Concert" in the Cavern Club,
in the back room on the BIG stage, where Paul McCartney
played in 1999 and again in 2015. Today’s gigs at the
Cavern Club will undoubtedly be a highlight, as we present a
tribute to Wings and take you back to the ’70s. Who better
to star in such a tribute than Denny Laine himself. A former
integral member of The Moody Blues, it is Denny’s time
with Wings for which he is most famously and fondly
remembered. Denny wasn’t just a member of Wings; with Paul
and Linda, he was Wings! Backed by Ringer (legends of
Beatleweek), this will be a nostalgic trip back through
time. Some of Paul’s greatest ever music was recorded
under the guise of Wings and if we ever needed reaffirmation
of this, then these afternoon concerts will be it! The
ultimate celebration, however, will be at the Empire Theatre
on Tuesday evening as this day - yes, this very day - is the
800th birthday of the City of Liverpool! The gig (with
artistes who will not be confirmed till Easter) will
celebrate Liverpool’s rich cultural and musical diversity.
As Tuesday night is not featured in any package, those
customers booking the gold package before January 30 are
guaranteed the option of an extra night and a ticket to the
performance when it is announced. Ticket prices and line up
details will follow in 2016 as soon as everything is
confirmed. 40 years of
Sgt. Pepper A
week’s party! What more can you want! Book now to be sure
of not missing out on this unique, never-to-be-repeated
celebration! |
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