'The Cavern Club' celebrates 50th anniversary of Beatles debut

On the 9th of February, 1961 four young men from Liverpool entered "The Cavern Club" in their town, wanting to present their music to the world. It was there that they played their debut concert to locals.

John and Ringo were 20 years old, Paul 19, and George was about to turn 18. Then they were called “the Quarrymen”, later to use the name “The Beatles”.

“The Cavern” marked the first place for the band to share their music with the public, and from there determined the base of what would define the sound of their first few albums. It was a contagious melodic pop that you could dance to. The music magic caught on pretty fast, reaching number 1 in the city, then England, and later on; the world. In November of the same year, Brian Epstein discovered the band and they were signed to Parlophone records.

The venue became hugely influential, giving protection to other bands and also putting the north of England on the map for music. At the time the majority of successful music on the market was being produced and performed largely in London. Some of the other musical acts to follow The Beatles to play there were: The Rolling Stones, Queen, The Yardbirds, The Kinks, Elton John, The Who and John Lee Hooker. The Cavern had converted itself into a local legend by the time of its close in 1973. The drama or loss of its closing was not really felt, as a replica venue was built along Matthew Street.

The Cavern marks one of the main points along the path in the Beatles history, which has converted into one of the biggest attractions in the city, and one of the most popular music spots, which today has around 40 live music performances per week between tribute bands and young new acts. In the year of 1999, Paul McCartney performed in the club for the last time.

To celebrate the anniversary today, The Cavern will have their in house tribute band, 'The Mersey Beatles' perform in honour of what can be considered one of the world’s most famous musical acts of all time. The tribute band have actually outdone the original band of John, Paul, George and Ringo, now having performed over 300 times at the club.