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It was November, it was cold, I’m up North in Liverpool and it was great. For five days I am in Europe’s awarded Capital of Culture roaming its streets and touring its clubs. Residing at a hotel rather than a friend of a friend’s couch and having six gigs to look forward to, I consider this to be my first real tour. Not wishing to give a false impression, I’d like to point out that the hotel room I’m staying in is a compact, submarine-like hole in the basement of the International Inn, but with no windows or portholes of course. 

Up the hatch, out onto the street and down to the Metro Bar to play my first show. I opened the evening, hosted by the lovely Emily and Kaya, with a half an hour set. The sound in the large, cavern-like pub was great and the audience, though not many in numbers, was cheery, welcoming and did an extremely good job in singing along!

ZAVVI has gone bankrupt and with it the prospect of performing in the Clayton Square store that Thursday afternoon. With this cancellation I had a free day and a hole in the tour schedule. I remembered seeing a sign advertising a weekly music night at the Jacaranda on Slater Street and so I decided to stroll down there and sign up. The staff were extremely easy going and said that I could play a couple of songs, the music would kick off whenever the sound guys show up. In stark contrast to the night before, the Jac was crowded, packed with young boozy scousers, many of which were dressed in true sixties style and all of which were having a good time. Looking back on this event, my memory mainly conjures up the rich colours and noises filling this tiny basement and the buzzing of the amplifiers. Despite the bad sound and organisation and the fact that nobody seemed to be bothered about it, I had a good time playing at the Jac. Something about it made it feel like “the real thing” and I left feeling all street-ed up (or down) and happy to have stumbled upon such a friendly bunch of lads and lasses.

Sleep in the subterranean hotel room was not getting any easier. Still I woke on Friday morning ready and very much looking forward to my two gigs scheduled for that day. The first show was to be in the Starbucks café of the Beatles Story Museum, right by the Albert Docks. Here, I had received a very warm welcome in form of flattering internet advertisements weeks prior to the tour. The café is huge and very inviting with lots of cosy armchairs, warm colours and, of course, Beatles pictures covering the cavernous walls. For me, the unquestionable highlights of this gig were the lovely hosts of the afternoon. They made me feel so very welcome and tried their best to ensure a smooth running of the show. I can only give my thanks and hope that they’ll have me back again! 

Twitching after half a dozen free coffees (really does make a nice change to free booze!) I hurried back up to the city centre for the evening gig in the highly recommended Mocha Lounge (yes, more coffee…). Here, I had the great privilege of opening a Capitalists of Culture art exhibition, featuring Stephen Collette’s new works. The stark change of settling and company was quite bizarre as I know found myself in a full venue with a mixed group of elderly opera and art connoisseurs, journalists and trendy young friends of the artists. Light years away from the kids singing along in the Jac, I was now immersed in conversations with lots of: “No, I don’t play classical music” and “Yes they do look very nice, don’t they?”

The clashing of generations and interests is, in my opinion, what made this night a really memorable one. Despite the very formal air of the event, the PA kind of reminded me of a toy thing I used to have when I was small and, indeed, the radio microphone only made it half way through my gig. I finished the set completely unplugged and standing in front of the stage. 
In spite of or maybe because of this, my songs went down really well. Friday’s shows were a great success – Liverpool had once again done its magic for me and I still had one more gig to look forward to: The Cavern Club.

Up the hatch one last time and, due to last nights escapades, down to Matthew Street in a cab… And what a cool welcoming to see my poster right at the entrance of this very club. Before sound check I met up with my friend Tom from room21, help for unsigned bands. ZAVVI’s closure certainly didn’t stop him and I can’t thank him enough for all the hard work he does just to support us musicians. I was really grateful he took the time to meet me and chat about plans for the next year and very honoured to hear that room21 management wanted to take me on board as their only acoustic act – Many Thanks, Tom!

Stage time crept up and I became more and more exited. For me, performing at the Cavern does not loose its novelty feeling. There were several acoustic acts on before me and they were all very good and playing cover songs. Nevertheless, I played my own material with the exception of my new craze, John Lennon’s Real Love and an old time favourite, I got a woman. Ironically, this was probably my worst performance of the week, but hey, I still had a good time and was really happy to be there. Thank you to the entire Cavern Club Crew being great as always and for enabling me to culminate my Liverpool tour on such a fantastic stage. I also want to thank LSMedia, who kindly came along to review the gig for their website – thank you, thank you! 

My six shows in Liverpool could not have differed more from one another. 
In only five days I went from dingy, packed basements, to famous cavernous stages, from dying microphones to meticulous sound systems. All places were hosted by friendly, music enthusiasts and I would play again at all these venues at any time. It’s Sunday night and London has me back. I hope to stay in touch with all the people I met and very much hope to see them all again when I’m back up North. Yes, of course, I’m already planning my next trip!