WHAT A PICTURE
It’s fitting that a mural that celebrates some great figures from Liverpool’s music scene past and present is situated on a wall in Matthew Street.
This is after all the street that is the home of the Cavern, which just happens to be pretty much the most famous music venue in the whole world ever. And more importantly for me it was also the home of Eric’s, a small basement club that changed my life. I was 15/16 when I was lucky enough to see some of the best bands ever play there including The Clash, Joy Division, The Specials and also witness the birth of amazing local bands like Echo and The Bunnymen.
The maverick genius that is Bill Drummond once put forward the theory that powerful key lines converged in Mathew Street and that’s why it was a hitbed of creativity. It sounds absolutely crazy but I really wouldn’t be surprised if there was something in it. It can’t just be a coincidence that this tiny street has produced so much special music that could only ever have come out of Liverpool.
The mural has come about through a partnership between SP Energy, Beatles Story, BID, and the Beatles Legacy Group.
Local artist Joseph Venning won the commission for the mural and his interpretation of the brief was a large scale mural which features 100 influential figures from Liverpool music history.
The mural features musicians and key industry figures like Beatles manager Brian Epstein and Eric’s legend Roger Eagle. Artists from both the Merseybeat and Eric’s era’s feature prominently with alumni from the latter including Jayne Casey, Ian McCulloch, Bill Drummond, Ian Broudie, Pete Byrne, OMD, and Holly Johnson.
On the night many artists featured were present at the unveiling including Peter Horton from The Farm, Fran from Red Rum Club, Yousef, Anton Powers, and Kieran from Circa Waves. Beatles Legend Frieda Kelly was also there lending her support to the project.
Liverpool is renowned the world over as a music city and the mural is a celebration of our amazing musical heritage and a reminder to every visitor of how music is at the very heart of the city.
