'We can work it out' says closure-threatened home of The Beatles

[rooster59]

'We can work it out' says closure-threatened home of The Beatles

By Jason Cairnduff

 

Jon Keats, events director, poses at the famous Cavern Club music venue, which helped launch The Beatles to global superstardom and now is under threat following months of closure due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Liverpool, Britain, August 20, 2020. Picture taken August 20, 2020. REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff

 

LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) - "It's hot, it's sweaty, it's packed - that's its reputation from back in the day with The Beatles, and it's still a proper rock and roll venue," said Jon Keats, Director of the Liverpool cellar bar where Britain's best-known musical export found fame.

 

That bittersweet sentence explains both why visitors from around the world flocked to the Cavern Club to pay homage to the 1960s musical phenomenon, and why now the airborne, highly contagious coronavirus pandemic threatens its future.

 

Keats shut his doors in March as the European wave of COVID-19 was hitting Spain and Italy hard and Britain was sliding towards its own crisis.

 

He expected to be closed for about a month.

 

Five months later, the club is still shut, the firm has lost more than 600,000 pounds ($788,000) and 20 of its 120 employees have been laid off.

 

The once-thriving business, which also runs Beatles-themed tours of Liverpool and two other venues, is seeking help from government crisis funds and has calculated it can survive until March in a worst-case scenario.

 

But as the country adapts to a new life dominated by facemasks and social distancing, Keats is due to reopen next week for International Beatleweek - a six day festival.

 

"I hate the phrase 'new normal', but you've got to look at your business differently," Keats said ahead of the reopening that he hopes will prove the club can adapt and keep its loyal fanbase happy.

 

"It's a good way of us looking at how we can do that with a mixture of live music and pre-recorded sets from bands from all over the world."

 

To comply with government guidelines, only 150 people will be allowed into the venue, which normally holds 500.

That is a far cry from the screaming Beatles-era crushes, or its more recent incarnation as a tourist attraction-cum-music venue.

 

It will be a different vibe, said Keats, but it's a start.

 

"We are closed, we are going to open, and the Cavern, ultimately, fingers crossed, won't be going anywhere."

 

(Reporting by Jason Cairnduff and Ben Dangerfield, writing by William James; editing by Stephen Addison)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-08-22

 

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[tifino]

well he could pack it all into a yellow submarine, and tether off some deepwater buoy beyond the 12mile limits; and have a Goodies Pirate BeerDance Station... 

[Dumbastheycome]

2 hours ago, tifino said:

well he could pack it all into a yellow submarine, and tether off some deepwater buoy beyond the 12mile limits; and have a Goodies Pirate BeerDance Station... 

More  than one  cruise ship sitting  idle !

[Emdog]

When bank shows up to claim it, sing "You say hello and I say goodbye..."

[VocalNeal]

22 hours ago, rooster59 said:

the firm has lost more than 600,000 pounds

When accountants claim a loss it doesn't mean it fell out of their pocket in a Bangkok taxi. 

[thaibeachlovers]

If McCartney doesn't care enough to part with ( for him ) chump change to save it, then why should the taxpayer support it?

[baansgr]

19 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If McCartney doesn't care enough to part with ( for him ) chump change to save it, then why should the taxpayer support it?

Good point but the local government benefits from the tourist dollar that this place attracts...

[thaibeachlovers]

2 minutes ago, baansgr said:

Good point but the local government benefits from the tourist dollar that this place attracts...

Then the local government can support it.

[Daffy D]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If McCartney doesn't care enough to part with ( for him ) chump change to save it, then why should the taxpayer support it?

The remaining Beatles could get together and help save the place that started it all for them.

 

For them it would be small change and show that they are still nice guys 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by Daffy D
wording!

[thaibeachlovers]

23 hours ago, Daffy D said:

The remaining Beatles could get together and help save the place that started it all for them.

 

For them it would be small change and show that they are still nice guys 

 

 

The Beatles started by a happy coincidence, but I doubt the Cavern was responsible. If I had to name the responsible party I'd say Hamburg, as it was there they crafted the Beatles sound. I'm sure they'd have eventually made it where ever they played.

Ringo and Paul should save it though, as it would be the right thing to do. Cost less than what Paul lost to her.