The Cavern Club and the Belgrade Theatre

The Cavern Club and the Belgrade Theatre

by Pete Clemons

Hands up. Of all the gigs I attend, I really do enjoy the 1960s package tours. And, judging by their audience sizes, I am not alone. These shows are so popular and I guess that the folk who attend them revisit a period of their younger days listening to the music. I know I certainly do.

A tour recently pulled in at The Belgrade Theatre. And once again it was an absolute delight as the years flooded back. The show titled ‘Rocking and Rolling with Laughter’ had a Liverpool theme to it as it featured original artistes who had performed during the early days of The Cavern Club.

The Dakotas, Billy J Kramer’s original backing group, began the proceedings with songs such as ‘Bad to me’, ‘Do you want to know a secret’ and ‘Little children’. They then backed Victoria Jones who very impressively covered Cilla Black favourites: ‘Alfie’, ‘You’re my world’, ‘Anyone who had a heart’.

One time Opportunity Knocks winner Bernie Flint then took to the stage recounting numerous stories and performing several songs that included his huge seller ‘I don’t want to put a hold on you’.

The Dakotas returned to do the honours as they supported Tony Crane and Billy Kinsley of The Mersey’s as they performed hits like ‘Sorrow’ and ‘So sad about us’.

After a short break The Dakotas opened up once more but this time they performed their own tune, an instrumental called, ‘The Cruel Sea’. They were followed by comedian Mick Miller who certainly entertained the audience for twenty minutes or so.

Finally it was the turn of The Merseybeats to take you back in time as they included their huge sellers ‘I think of you’ and ‘Wishin’ and Hopin’ along with others within their set. Joining them on stage during their set was special guest Beryl Marsden who floored you with songs such as ‘Boys’ and ‘Baby it’s you’. In between songs at one point Beryl, who once supported The Beatles, was trying to remember if she had ever sung in Coventry before. She concluded that she didn’t think she had. But, if you ever read this Beryl, I am sure you once did and that was with Rod Stewart in the band Shotgun Express.

All in all it was a wonderful and well-presented evening. These musicians best days in terms of chart success may have been decades ago but they still know how to entertain.

But what was mystifying was the size of the audience which was a lot less than I had expected given how these gigs are normally attended. As I mentioned earlier, these events tend to sell really well but I couldn’t help thinking about the advertising.

Where normally, with 1960s package tours, the names of the bands appearing are the first thing you see on advertising posters etc. But in the case of this tour the artistes names are buried under a host of words explaining what the show is trying to recreate.

A real pity and an opportunity missed, in my opinion. It was a slight blemish on what had been a hugely enjoyable evening.