In the name of love

Thousands of Beatles’ fans were making their annual pilgrimage. Liverpool was the city and the Cavern Club was their holy site.

Although the dazzling, wonderful days of The Beatles are now in the far distant past, committed fans still have the urge to celebrate their music. The band might have died, but the love and music remain, far longer than most things that exist in people’s minds. Die hard fans have International Beatles Week. It’s a festival where they can gather together and celebrate love interpreted in many forms from all across the universe.

This year, it was all the same; it took place in Liverpool, forever home of The Beatles from Aug. 24-29, 2011. During those six days, fans made their own efforts to come and celebrate the life – not only the music — of the “Fab Four”.

In the name of love, traveling fans came to town to share the same spirit; some even brought their families and loved ones along. It’s more than enough to make the statement that if you’re an avid fan, distance will never be an insurmountable problem.

Liverpool, on Merseyside, is a small city in Great Britain. Despite its past important role in the United Kingdom’s history, if we’re talking about size, you can walk around the city center and feel the vibe of the city in only a few hours.

Of course, the city is now famous for the ongoing rivalry between Liverpool Football Club and its neighbor, Everton. But, apart from the soccer fans, the city also reserves space for fans of music.

Those who grew up with the music of The Beatles, or even their children who got to know the band from their parents, have every right in the world to party. Every year, the Cavern Club, a small bar that provided a regular home for the band during its early years, organizes a festival of celebration with showcasing acts from around the world, which all do their best to honor the band.

The Cavern Club is located in Matthew Street, one of the most inspiring streets the city has. It lies in the basement and is only a small space with low air quality, but a wonderful atmosphere. If we put this name on the topic, then The Beatles will be the only one subject that worth talking about.

The club, categorized as small, hosted two stages, while the pub located opposite it hosted a thrid. More than 70 bands arrived from 20 countries and, together, formed a massive festival in terms of lineup.

The Cavern Club’s small stages created an intimate atmosphere, while people came and went, milled around, and sang along to the songs, of course. Most of the listeners, who according to the event’s organizer, came from more than 40 different countries, were middle-aged. These fans have most likely been living with the band’s music most of their lives and some may even have had the chance to see The Beatles live during their glory days. Some even showed up with their families and many had emblazoned their clothes with Beatles paraphernalia.

“I came here with my son. He’s in a band, so I thought it would be nice to bring him along to this festival,” said Damien Scott, who was attending with his wife and their 19-year-old son.

“I just arrived a few hours ago from Newcastle. I always try my best to come here every year; well, for the good old days,” he continued.

Scott is one of probably hundreds of traveling fans. Among the crowd, you could easily see Japanese and Chinese faces wedged in between local “Scousers” and other Caucasian faces. One of them was Shinji Nagata from Tokyo.

In broken English, he said: “This is my second time coming here. I just need to be here, you know.” He discovered the band’s music via his dad’s record collection.

“The Beatles changed my life; I managed to find a wife also because of [my love for their music]. My wife is also a Beatles fan,” he told us.

Don’t calculate how much money Nagata spent on his trip to Liverpool from his homeland. It may not make much sense compared to what he got in Liverpool. He said he’s happy, though, and that makes any outlay fair enough. The atmosphere at the festival was something that will be remembered by all who were there for a long time.

The rules at the festival were very simple: go to the bar, buy some drinks and sing along no matter who is playing, since all the bands are mainly singing Beatles’ tunes. That’s good enough. Love can defeat any logic; so can a long lasting love for The Beatles.

If you’re a massive fan of The Beatles, then save some money to come to this festival sometime in the future. It’s worth it.