Cavern Club Clones
Meanwhile, entrepreneurs are reviving another historic club -- and taking it on the road. The Cavern Club, launching point for the British Invasion, is not only back in business in Liverpool, but its clones are popping up in Spain, Australia, Japan and Brazil.

Cavern City Tours runs the underground club, which opened in 1957. The Beatles played there regularly from 1961 to 1963; a lunchtime gig there in 1961 led to their first record contract. Other British rock and pop bands cut their teeth at the Cavern through the 1960s.

In 1973, the buildings above The Cavern were demolished, and the basement club was filled in. ("They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot…") After the 1980 death of John Lennon, interest in reviving the club led to its excavation and restoration.

Since then, with the exception of a few closed years in the late 1980s, the club has been rocking steadily. (A look at the recent schedule shows Carl Palmer, Jefferson Starship, Rod Argent, and Jesus Jones. Paul McCartney returned to play a small show in 1999.)

Bill Heckle, chairman of Cavern City Tours, says that 16 cities around the world have expressed interest in having a Cavern Club replica. The clubs, which will promote live music, will be built with the same unplastered brick arches and other distinct features of the original club.

The Cavern Club in Tokyo is now open; Sao Paulo and Adelaide are scheduled open summer 2004. Heckle claims that Liverpool will remain the only city in England with a Cavern, however.

Visit the official Cavern Club site or Cavern City Tours site

Visit the Cavern Club -- Tokyo