Cavern Club Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Beatles' Performance

On Wednesday, Feb. 9, The Cavern Club in Liverpool, England celebrated the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' first performance on its stage.

In February 1961, the Fab Four's lineup featured Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and drummer Pete Best, who was replaced by Ringo Starr in 1962. Best's mother, Mona, was the one to beg the club's talent booker, Ray McFall, to give the band a chance to play. Their first concert was a lunchtime slot.

The Cavern Club's co-owner, Dave Jones, said that the Beatles eventually "became the house band" of the club. They would go on to play 292 shows there, according to Rolling Stone. Jones said that, at their first show, many of the songs they played were covers of songs by Chuck Berry and Little Richard.

The Cavern Club celebrated by having one of their current house bands perform a one-hour lunchtime set, just as The Beatles did 50 years ago, and then followed it up with a Beatles tribute concert that evening.

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