Ben Williams
Audiences returned as Liverpool staged ERP events
to create an environment that truly works for them .”
She says the company ’ s association with venues outside of Liverpool has meant it has also been able to help local artists play gigs outside the city .
As someone who has attended live music shows across Liverpool in venues of every shape and size for the past 45 years , McManus says he is proud of the diversity of the local offering : “ We ’ ve got venues that have taken risks by putting on
Fatboy Slim performing in a city famous globally for its mucic scene
really diverse music . Like all cities , there ’ s issues around the threat of residential development , but there ’ s a bunch of venues in the North Docks now as well as in the Baltic , so there ’ s a lot of opportunities .”
As well as Meraki ( 175 ) and 24 Kitchen Street ( 320 ), McManus suggests Future Yard – a 350-capacity live music venue and artist hub in Birkenhead – and the Angus Tap & Grind as examples of great venues to have opened during the pandemic .
Among Liverpool ’ s many other notable venues are the Invisible Wind Factory ( 1,300 ), Mountford Hall ( 2,300 ), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic ( 1,700 ), Zanzibar ( 300 ) and , of course , the Cavern Club – famed for hosting The Beatles .
Several major Liverpool events will be celebrating anniversaries this year . Sound City , Liverpool ’ s leading independent festival for new music , will mark its 15th anniversary at the end of May , with more than 50 acts performing at venues in Baltic Triangle and Cains Brewery Village , alongside its annual Sound City + conference .
Africa Oyé Festival , which is billed as the UK ’ s largest free celebration of African music and culture , will return to Sefton Park in June for its 30th anniversary edition . The festival ’ s attendance record was broken five years ago when more than 80,000 people visited the event .
Celebrating 30 years of the Cream nightclub , Cream Classical on the Waterfront will return in September at Pier Heard , following its successful debut last Summer .
Another landmark Liverpool festival is Liverpool International Music Festival , which was launched by Culture Liverpool in 2012 . The event usually takes place in Sefton Park but is set to run at a ( yet to be announced ) new location in July this year .
McManus says he was impressed by the resilience of Liverpool ’ s event professionals during the pandemic , most of whom are small independent operators : “ It ’ s hard enough to run a small venue in a normal year . If you didn ’ t have that passion , you wouldn ’ t have kept going after the pandemic , and they ’ re all here after all the ups and downs .
He says that while it is vitally important to continue to celebrate the enduring legacy of The Fab Four in order to drive tourism , there is no shortage of new and exciting music , sport and cultural events on offer throughout Liverpool – now more than ever .
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