Plans are at an advanced stage for the creation of replica Cavern Clubs
in locations as far afield as Australia, Spain, Brazil and the US.
The Cavern Club, in Mathew Street, Liverpool, is where the Beatles began
to gain a following during the heady days of Merseybeat in the early 60s.
When the original club was bulldozed in the early 80s, a facsimile was
built just a few feet away. It remains a gathering point for Beatles fans
who flock there from all over the world. Nearby walls contain graffiti
tributes to the band.
The first replica Cavern club in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, could be open
within a year as a site has already been chosen for the development.
Cavern City Tours, which owns the Cavern Club, said it has plans to open
identical sites in diverse locations such as Adelaide, Sao Paolo, Marbella,
Miami and New York.
Bill Heckle, chairman of Cavern City Tours, told the Liverpool Echo
yesterday that they were hoping to develop the clubs as quickly as
possible.
”We have started to put something together and things are developing
quite positively at the moment,” he said yesterday. ”We went to Rio last
week to look at the site which has been earmarked for the development
there. The group behind the Rio plans are in Liverpool for talks this
weekend and they are hoping to have the Rio Cavern open in six to nine
months.”
In each of the venues, the name, images, logo and merchandise would be the
same as in the Liverpool Cavern. Mr Heckle says he is also in talks with
bands from Liverpool about touring the new venues.
The news came as 500,000 Beatles fans gathered in Liverpool for the
Mathew Street Festival: the annual celebration of all things Beatles. — COPYRIGHT: GUARDIAN NEWSPAPERS LIMITED 2003