Are you a big Beatles fan? Then you probably know about the Cavern Club, a legendary subterranean venue in Liverpool the Beatles played over and over in their early years - over 300 shows, actually - dating back to when they were The Quarrymen.
The original Cavern Club is long gone, demolished in 1973. A replica in Liverpool was built in 1984, and now there's a replica in Hartland, Wisconsin that some are saying is an even better replica than the one in Liverpool.
That's according to technology entrepreneur Rick Meister, who owns the building that houses The Cavern Club Hartland, below another establishment, the Blue Sky Jazz Club. The history of both can be found in this excellent article from Bobby Tanzilo of OnMilwaukee.com.
Among Bobby's observations of the Cavern Club, he notes ""The stage has a Ludwig drum kit like the one Ringo Starr played, a McCartney-style Hofner violin bass and Rickenbacker guitars, which were favored for a time by George Harrison and John Lennon. There's a "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" bass drum, too. At the back is a recreation of the mural that adorned the back wall at the Cavern, painted by Chrysalis Murals."
Sounds cool, right?
There's a fund-raising event this evening, September 4, to commemorate The Beatles' only Milwaukee concert on this date in 1964. "Beatle" Bob Barry, the legendary Milwaukee DJ who introduced the Beatles on stage at the Arena 54 years ago today, will be there with copies of his new book and Beatles cover band The Ricochettes will play Beatles tunes from their Milwaukee concert.
It runs from 7-9 pm tonight, September 4th, at the Cavern Club in Hartland. It's located at 510 Hartbrook Drive. All attendees will receive a signed copy of Bob’s book “Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio Milwaukee: Stories from the Fifth Beatle” and a concert from special guests the Ricochettes, a local band known as “Milwaukee’s Beatles” during the mid-1960’s. The Ricochettes will select songs from the Beatles 1964 Milwaukee concert set list to honor this special date. Tickets start at $75 plus processing fees. Proceeds from the event will support Donate Life Wisconsin, the Angels Fund for Kids, and Blue Sky Jazz. Doors open at 6:30pm.
I'll be there, it should be really cool. Hope to see you!