Darin Toohey and Barbara Brandt's
Trip To The Liverpool Sound Concert

May 31, 2008 — arriving in Liverpool from the Lakes District: Welcome to the new Hard Day's Night Hotel! Mathew Street is just down the street and to the right. Sir Paul atop the Hard Day's Night Hotel — guess who we're going to see at Anfield Stadium tomorrow? The Cavern Quarter — home to the Cavern, and what many consider to be the birthplace of the Mersey Sound. A view over Mathew Street from the art gallery at the Hard Day's Night Hotel. The Liverpool waterfront — a work still in progress for "Liverpool '08" Welcome to the new Liverpool 1 Shopping Mall — a $2-billion facelift has turned the streets of central Liverpool into the largest shopping mall in the UK ... maybe in Europe, according to some news reports we saw on the telly. Smart planning has resulted in a fine stretch of stores and hotels conveniently linking Mathew Street to the Albert Dock. Anybody in Liverpool know this guy? Take my tickets, please! Oh, that Paul McCartney! You don't suppose they are just a little proud of being the European City of Culture, do you? A tribute to another Liverpool star — Billy Fury A view of the Liverpool Cathedral from the Albert Dock. Enjoying an ale at the Grapes, a pub across from The Cavern, now made famous by the Fabs. June 1, 2008 — The Day (Liverpool Sound!): A violin is alright, John, but you'll never earn a living! They've got tickets to ride, and we're gonna catch one of them Fab buses. The famous room used by the Fabs if Grapes was crowded. This is in the White Star pub just around the corner, and near the guitar shop where they bought some early guitars. You wouldn't know the Beatles were big in Liverpool from this wall! Liverpool Cathedral — reportedly, the largest Anglican cathedral in the world, completed in 1978. The view north from the Cathedral Tower — about 300 feet above the street. This is LIPA (yellow), the place that Sir Paul saved and converted into a performing arts school. Stella McCartney had a fashion show there in the afternoon. Shall we wander over to LIPA now? Hmm, what's this, a Beatles reunion? Yoko in the white hat, Sir Paul leaning over talking to her, son James to his right, Olivia Harrison to Yoko's left, and Sir George Martin and son Giles to their left. Mike McCartney is somewhere off to the left shooting photos, and Paul's band is up on the balcony with us, although somehow we missed them! Pardon the image — they said 'no cameras' and we believed them! This was from my cell phone. Following the fashion show, we made our way to Anfield Stadium, again without a real camera. So this will have to do. Fortunately, there were plenty of official photos from the event. In the line of skyboxes that are mid-image, across the field, we could see Sir Paul, Dave Grohl (of the foo Fighters) and some of the band (Rusty and Abe, for sure) in the mid-field box during the Kaiser Chiefs' performance. Local band, the Zutons, opened the show. They were quite good and well received. Not to be left out, Yoko brought some of John's art to the Echo Tower. Pretty much the same pieces that have been circulating around the U.S. for the past 10 years or so, with some older (and pricier!) pieces from his childhood. Rumor had it that Yoko (and Olivia maybe?) were seen in the back of John's Menlove Ave. home a few days before the concert. They were also in attendance at the big show. And we had to make one last stop at the place where it pretty much all began 48 years ago. Although a 'new' Cavern, it is at least in the same old spot — well, 75% of it is, as the new Cavern is larger than the old one, but you wouldn't know it from the next photo! Looking out from a table next to the stage. Wow, can you imagine 400 people in this room? — Darin Toohey & Barbara Brandt

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