Last week Liverpool rejoiced as it was announced the city will host the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.
But to those who know the city’s musical heritage well, Liverpool was always the best choice.
From the Beatles to Grammy-award-winning music studios owned by rock legends, music is in the very fabric of this northern city.
So if you want to get a taste before the big event next May, here are the Liverpudlian landmarks that should be on every muso’s radar.
The Cavern Club
The Cavern Club, which opened in 1957, is regarded as the birthplace of the Merseybeat sound that put Liverpool on the musical map. John Lennon’s first band, The Quarrymen, performed here soon after it opened.
Shortly after that, Paul McCartney joined and played here with them before their first gig as The Beatles took place here in 1961. It closed in 1973 and reopened in its current location just down the road in 1984.
There’s live music every day from 11.30am until late and the venue incorporates the Cavern Live Lounge, the memorabilia-filled Cavern Pub and a gift shop, where you can buy everything from Cavern Club guitar straps to Fab Four stationery.
The British Music Experience
Located in the waterfront Cunard Building, The British Music Experience tells the story of Britain’s music scene through memorabilia (notable items include outfits worn by Dusty Springfield and Freddie Mercury), interactive exhibits, live performances and art installations.
Areas include the Gibson Interactive Studio, where you can strum electric guitars, and Dance The Decades where, with the help of a virtual dance instructor, you can reenact dance moves from styles spanning 70 years.
Tickets from £16.
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Head to this art-deco style Grade II-listed building to listen to the UK’s oldest continuing professional symphony orchestra, along with a wide range of other performances.
This year’s hottest tickets have included Will Young, Marc Almond and The Proclaimers, while Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello have played in the past.
Built in the late 1930s, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Hall replaced the original hall, which burned down in 1933 – an event which, according to Liverpool Echo articles published at the time, attracted a crowd of 10,000.
The Beatles Story
You don’t have to be a fan of the Fab Four to appreciate Albert Dock’s The Beatles Story, where replicas of locations connected with The Beatles (including the Casbah, Abbey Road Studios and The Cavern) can be found.
These sit alongside memorabilia and photographs that provide fascinating insights. The newest area is the miniature Cavern Club stage – head there for a Beatles-themed karaoke session.
Tickets from £18.
Parr Street Studios
The Grammy award-winning Parr Street Studios, once owned by Genesis, have expanded to encompass two bars, a boutique hotel and PodZzz, a capsule hotel-style property. Artists who’ve recorded here include Coldplay, The Smiths and Snow Patrol, and the bars’ walls are filled with these musicians’ silver, gold and platinum discs.
Studio2 is the bar most musos make a beeline for – fans can bag a seat in the studio’s former control room – and there’s live music, including regular soul nights, weekend DJ sessions and the legendary ParrJazz evenings, when musicians from around the world take to the stage.
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