LIVERPOOL’S MUSIC LEGACY LIVES ON WITH NEW CITY TRAIL
It was wonderful to be part of the Liverpool Music Heritage Trail launch this week. Despite the rain there was a big turn out on Mathew Street to see Metro Mayor Steve Rotherham unveiling two of the plaques at Eric’s and the Cavern.
The trail has been developed by the Beatle Legacy Group (BLG) and has been a long time in the planning. The idea came from the music heritage tours developed by Peter Hooton (Chair of the BLG and singer with The Farm). Peter and his Farm colleague Keith Mullen as well as Nasher from Frankie Goes To Hollywood take music fans on walking tours of the city highlighting historic music venues and stories associated with them along the way.
From this came the desire to make this incredible music heritage and the stories available to a much wider audience than the small number who could book on to a tour with Peter, Keith and Nasher.
Steve Rotherham, Metro Mayor and a massive music fan got behind the idea and with funding secured from the good people at The Beatles Story the BLG were finally able to put their plans into action.
This first phase of the trail features eleven plaques but everyone involved is conscious that this is just scratching the surface and the aim is to secure more funding so we can feature more venues from Liverpool’s rich and diverse musical history.
The plaques mark the physical spaces where these venues once existed and of necessity these provide just the a few headlines with key facts. The real treasure is when you go online at liverpoolmusiccity.com and there you will find out much more detail about the venues. Each venue has its own short film with Peter Hooton adding more colour with facts and stories about all of the chosen sites. And for me the real joy is the playlists that run alongside each of the venues. These have been put together by people who are strongly associated with each venue in some way and I’ve been listening to them all week. In fact while I have been writing this piece I have been listening to the Eric’s playlist put together by co-owner of the club Ken Testi and I have just been overcome by the sounds that remind me of my 15 year old self.(Although personally Ken if Im being picky I would have put an early Bunnymen track or Big In Japan in there but I’ll forgive you because you have put gems like The Cramps in there and Suffice to Say by Yachts). I could bang on about Eric’s forever but if you want more of my personal musings on the club that changed my life its all here 45 Years Since Eric’s Closed – Its Legacy Lives On.
In fact the trail covers a number of venues that played a big part in my life- The Picket, Cream, The Warehouse and The Lomax all played a big part in shaping my musical career/education.
For me the trail works on a number of levels. Firstly it reminds older people like me of great nights we have experienced, amazing artists we have seen, and friends we have made through our love of music. Secondly it highlights the incredible music history of the city and how venues have played a key part in this. The artists that emerged from Eric’s changed the world, as obviously did The Cavern. The State changed nights out in the city for a certain generation, and Cream put Liverpool on the map when everybody had forgotten Liverpool was actually still here. The Picket was a place I practically lived in for a few years and maybe it doesn’t have the same global reach as the other ones but it was for a few years a place that was critical to the emergence of a whole generation of Liverpool artists.
The final message for me is the critical one. The venues featured on this trail all closed for different reasons. But the outcome was the same in that the city was poorer for their loss. I went on a protest march the week after Eric’s closed but it was already too late and the damage was done.
Today we have an incredible array of venues run by people who are passionate about what they do but who are facing incredibly difficult times. We need to do what we can to make sure they stay open. With this in mind we recently launched a venues fund that was a recognition that more needs to be done locally and nationally to support these magical places where artists and audiences are nurtured. Locally and nationally much more needs to be done but you can help too. I know there’s a million things to watch on a streamer, and I know you can stare at social media for days seeing dogs do funny stuff but special things happens when you get out of your house and go to a venue or a club. So I’m finishing with a plea – get out there and experience the magic of live music, see new artists and meet like minded music fans. So put your phone away and lose yourself in the music.
By Kev McManus
