A Magical History Tour
Click on the photos to see a larger image in a new window.

(L-R): Brian, Jay, Steven and Dave

The Mersey Beatles formed in 1999, when school friends Steven Howard and Brian Ambrose got together with Steven's cousin David and fellow aspiring musician Jason Murray. Just like their musical role models, their early performances were around the social and cabaret clubs in their home city, including many venues where The Beatles performed.

The buzz they created in the early days soon caught the attention of Cavern City Tours, owners of the world famous Cavern Club and organisers of the annual International Beatles Week. The boys were given a Thursday night residency at The Cavern and have become the headline act at the Beatles Convention at Liverpool's Adelphi Hotel.

	The Mersey Beatles are still honoured to be playing regular Thursday nights at The Cavern from 10pm and are well on their way to topping the 294 performances which The Beatles achieved at the club. (see Gig Guide for details).
The Cavern's 'official' Beatles tribute band

News of their success at The Cavern reached Liverpool City Council, who invited them to become the city's official tribute band. The boys have since represented their home town at various events, including the conferences of all three main political parties, investment inititiaves and concerts across Europe to attract tourism to the 2008 European Capital of Culture.

On the Road

Jay in Adelaide	Dave in Malaysia	Steven in Norway	Brian in Germany

Other trips abroad have included the inaugural Australian Beatles Festival in Adelaide and a headline set at the Hard Rock Cafe in Kuala lumpur, Malaysia.

The band have headlined festivals in Mons, Belgium and Denmark's Faroe Islands, and topped the bill at outdoor events in Croatia, Norway, Italy and Germany. They also perform an annual headline set at the Swedish Beatles Festival in Vasteras.

PHOTO: Liverpool Daily Post - No large image available.

In 2005 Dave "George" Howard took a year out. Cavern Pub manager Robbie Hughes - took over, and did a fine job. The photo (left) shows the new line-up, with Robbie Hughes as "George", representing Liverpool in Pisa.

It was one of the busiest years in the band's history, as they took their critically acclaimed theatre show on the road. Following this success, it is now available as the Deluxe show on our Pick a Show page.

When Dave Howard returned as "George" in 2006, he had a bit of catching up to do as the boys branched out into the Sgt Pepper years and beyond in his absence. But he was back on form in time for another fantastic show at the Mathew Street Festival.

Dave gets back to where he once belonged

2007 was a big year of anniversaries for Beatle fans - 50 years since John met Paul, 50 years since the Cavern club was launched, 40 years since Brian Epstein died, 40 years since Sgt Pepper was released.

It has also been an eventful year for The Mersey Beatles, including some unique opportunities such as the launch event for Royal Mail's Beatles stamps and a live set at Abbey Road studios.

	The night before the official launch of Royal Mail's Beatles stamps, The Beatles Story Museum hosted a party to display the stamps for the world's press. The Mersey Beatles were honoured to play at the launch.
On the Beatles Story's replica Cavern stage. PICTURE: Liverpool Echo

At the world-famous Cavern Club's 50th birthday celebration, The Mersey Beatles headlined an impressive bill of 32 bands in a show lasting 13 hours!

	VisitBritain, the country's official tourism website, invited the boys to play at Abbey Road, the world's most famous recording studio. They arrived early for a press photo shoot and a few snaps of their own.
Veteran DJ David "Kid" Jensen hosted the night, and the live music took place in Studio 1. The Mersey Beatles closed the show with a 40 minute set of Beatles classics recorded just a few feet away in Studio 2 all those years ago.
	The highlight was having unlimited access to Studio 2 for the day, where they breathed the air, took photos, and even wrote a couple of songs when no one else was around.
Dave (George) outside Abbey Road's Studio 2

	The band also featured in a series of photos in various Liverpool locations as inspiration for paintings commissioned by Liverpool's new Hard Days Night Hotel.
A recreation of The Beatles 1964 homecoming shot at Liverpool Town Hall

1st June 2007 marked 40 years since the release of the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. The Mersey Beatles performed a tribute to the album live at The Mojo Club in Manchester, in full Sgt Pepper costume.

The lads were delighted to play at celebrations to mark fifty years since John met Paul in July 1957, when John's skiffle group, The Quarrymen, played at the Village Fete near his family home in Woolton.

The original Quarrymen played a special concert to begin the Woolton Music Festival, and The Mersey Beatles rounded off the weekend's events.

The busiest summer ever for The Mersey Beatles included trips to Dublin, Cannes, and tours of Germany, Sweden and Norway, with rare performances of their critically acclaimed theatre show.

There was disappointment in August when the Mathew Street Festival was cancelled at the last minute, only for the lads' faith to be restored by the irrepressible fans who turned up for their show at The Beatles Convention at Liverpool's Adelphi Hotel, and those lucky enough to be at what many called our "best show of the year", at The Vines pub on August Bank Holiday. The vibe at The Vines was electric - so much so there are talks of The Mersey Beatles at The Vines during Beatleweek becoming an annual event.

Those who have the Let It Be Naked fly on the wall extra disc will know that The Beatles themselves toyed with the idea of ending the Let It Be film with a concert aboard the prestigious QE2.

Unfortunately it wasn't to be. However in September 2007, nearly forty years later, the sound of the Fab Four could be heard aboard the famous ship, and not a day too late as, sadly, the QE2 will be decommissioned in 2008.

See the news and reviews pages for regular updates, as Liverpool's official Beatles tribute band goes from strength to strength.

back to top