Today marks 58 years since The Beatles performed their last ever show at The Cavern Club.
The band first played the Mathew Street club back in 1957 and by the time they played their final gig at the venue they were a world-wide phenomenon.
The Beatles - then The Quarrymen - initially performed at The Cavern as a jazz band before finding their rhythm, so to speak, and debuting as The Beatles in February 1961.
READ MORE: The spectacular rise and fall of the Mathew Street Festival
The Cavern is well known for being the place where Brian Epstein first saw the group play, having been curious after hearing mention of them at his family’s record store and in the pages of Mersey Beat magazine. And the rest is history.
The Beatles went on to dominate the music scene across the world - but not without returning to The Cavern Club one last time.
John, Paul, George and Ringo took to the Cavern stage for the final time on August 3, 1963, playing to an audience of 500 screaming fans.
The show, which was performed at the last minute due to a schedule change, was unexpected since many felt that The Beatles had outgrown the small venue - they did have a number one record in the UK just months before.
T he ECHO has launched a new 8-page nostalgia section in print every Wednesday. You can order a copy here.
However, just a month after recording ‘She Loves You’, The Beatles took to The Cavern stage.
The show was the band’s 292nd at The Cavern, with tickets going on sale exclusively to Cavern Club members at 1.30pm on July 21 - and sold out within 30 minutes.
According to The Beatles Story , the admission price was just under 10 shillings, which meant that once the staff and bands had been paid the club made no profit that night.
T he ECHO has launched a new 8-page nostalgia section in print every Wednesday. You can order a copy here.
In Spencer Leigh’s book ‘The Cavern’ former doorman at the club Paddy Delaney said: “The crowds outside were going mad. By the time John Lennon had got through the cordon of girls, his mohair jacket had lost a sleeve.
“I grabbed it to stop a girl getting away with a souvenir. John stitched it back on. They may have altered their style elsewhere, but they didn’t do it at the Cavern. They were the same old Beatles, with John saying, ‘Okay, tatty-head, we’re going to play a number for you.’ There was never anything elaborate about his introductions.”
The Beatles played The Cavern with their usual vigour, from 6pm - 11.30pm, entertaining the crowd with songs and jokes. That night they shared the bill with The Mersey Beats, The Escorts, The Road Runners, The Sapphires and Johnny Ringo & The Colts.
However, they were soon faced with a power cut that silenced the band’s instruments and plunged the venue into darkness.
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During the blackout it is reported that John Lennon and Paul McCartney performed an acoustic version of ‘When I'm Sixty-Four’ – a song they wouldn't release until 1967 – while waiting for the electricity to return.
The Beatles wouldn’t return to The Cavern Club again after this stop-and-start gig - but Sir Paul did manage to return to the club as a solo artist to perform live in 1999 and 2018.
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