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Beatle Week Festival brews antidote for cultural amnesiacs
It was in the middle of a spring night in Liverpool, but the temperature had not moved far from 12 degrees Celsius
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It was in the middle of a spring night in Liverpool, but the temperature had not moved far from 12 degrees Celsius. Some five meters under an alley in the city, about 100 people were nesting comfortably inside the warm womb of the Cavern Club.
It was under the same alley, about three decades ago, that four young British lads -- John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison -- cast their spell on the city, lulling them with dreams of peace, love and friendship.
However, on this night the stage belonged to three American women in their 20s who call themselves the Cavern Kittens.
They firmly gripped their musical instruments, out of which harmonies from not only The Beatles, but also musicians who had a major influence on their music, such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and -- of course -- Elvis Presley, burst out into the night.
The 25th Beatleweek festival had arrived, and for a week from August 20 to August 26, bands from all over the world got together in a celebration paying tribute to The Beatles -- the band that paved the long and winding road of rock *n' roll history.
That night alone, at least 100,000 people from all over the United Kingdom and around the world had gathered in Liverpool -- this year's European Capital of Culture -- to be entertained by around 200 Beatles tribute bands from across the globe.
Genuine Pluck members (from front to back) Adnan Sigit, Awan Garnida, Wawan Hidayat and Beni Pratama pose on roadside of Boston Place in London. (JP/Lovelli Ariesti)
This year is monumental for Beatles fans in Southeast Asia and Indonesia, as for the first time in 25 years, the festival had invited an Indonesian band, the Genuine Pluck, or G-Pluck, to play their role in history.
"We've never had a band from Southeast Asia before, so it's great to see that we've got people still making Beatles music in your country," said Ray Johnson from Cavern City Tours, one of the parties organizing the festival.
Ray has spent 21 years getting together promoters, performers and crowds for Beatleweek festivals all over the world.
Every year, he said, the organizers try to introduce to the festival new musical talents chosen regardless of their credo, color or country of origin.
Over the festival weekend, 160 bands played in the pubs and clubs chosen to host this year's Beatleweek festival.
The sites include the famous Cavern Club, the Cavern Pub, the Royal Court and the Royal Court Bar, the four clubs at the Adelphi Hotel, the Hard Day's Night Hotel, as well as outside stages such as the Town Hall and the Pacific Road.
"These bands were selected out of the 500 applicants sending out their requests to play in this year's Beatleweek festival," Ray explained, adding that to this very day he remained amazed by how many people knew The Beatles.
This year's offering included Latin American bands the Shouts and 4!, Johnny Silver and Band from Germany in their 9th performance, the Los Brandys from Spain and the Aspreys from Japan.
Every year the festival makes way for new bands, some of whose members are very young and have been influenced by The Beatles and other music of the 60s and the 70s.
Other than the made-in-Indonesia Genuine Pluck, one such band was a trio claiming to be "the only all-woman Beatles band in America" and who was given the honor of performing at the Cavern Club.
"You can say that we're hybrids, because we play not only Beatles songs, but also those from bands that heavily influenced them," said vocalist and guitarist Isabelle Belance, still in her 20s, just a couple of minutes after their first performance at the club.
The band had arrived in Liverpool just three hours earlier, but under the dim street lighting of the Cavern walk, no trace of fatigue was visible.
Sabrina Lynch, the drummer in the group, couldn't help but laugh and said, "You really can't escape the great energy that circles all around you. And when people love it, you just want to play more and more."
Other than the stage shows included in what is called the Matthew Street Festival -- featuring senior bands including BBC Merseyside's notorious announcer Billy Butler and his band Billy Butler & the Tuxedos, the Undertakers and the Merseybeats -- the festival also included the some of the people behind the Beatles story.
Among these individuals was the controversial Allan Williams, who was present to promote his thick book, Fool on the Hill, which describes his experience of being roped into managing the band.
"Unknown to me at the time, there was this group called The Beatles, who used to hang out in my club," he said between book signings, recalling his encounter with the band.
His story began in August 1960, when he was in his early years of managing a coffee bar club, one that didn't sell alcohol, in downtown Liverpool.
He told The Jakarta Post the band members had gained a reputation as "coffee bar bums and lay-abouts" because all they did was "bumming free coffees off the girls" using the charm of their good looks.
During that period of his life, he was using the service provided by Steward Cliff, the so-called fifth Beatle, who one day asked him to manage his band.
"When he asked me *when are you going to do something for us?' I told him that there were no more paintings to be done," Allan recalled.
Little did he realize that Steward was talking about his band The Beatles, a band destined to become the most famous group in the history of rock 'n' roll.
Also present at the festival was Robert Whitaker, the official Beatles photographer who tagged along with the band during their last tour in 1966.
When asked about his experience with the Liverpool lads, Whitaker, better known as Bob, refused to say anything only,"It was a nice experience working with them."
The festival ended on August 26, with between 100,000 and 150,000 visitors daily, joining the parade of dreamers in search for an antidote leading to a better, open culture.
