MUSEUM OF LIVERPOOL: 70 YEARS OF THE CAVERN CLUB EXHIBITION

The Museum of Liverpool has unveiled plans for a forthcoming showcase dedicated to commemorating seven decades of a legendary music institution.

This upcoming exhibition, titled “70 Years of The Cavern Club,” is scheduled to launch in Liverpool in 2027, honoring 70 years of one of the planet’s most renowned performance spaces. Organized in partnership with The Cavern Club, the exhibit explores the site’s evolution from a post-World War II jazz spot tucked away in a Mathew Street basement, to a worldwide cultural icon and the bustling performance hub it remains today.

Globally celebrated as the cradle of The Beatles and the quintessential home of the Merseybeat sound, the history of The Cavern Club is intertwined with the story of Liverpool, molded by the same social, cultural, and financial shifts as the surrounding city.

Established by Alan Sytner as a space for jazz, the club debuted on January 16, 1957, rapidly drawing in major jazz figures like Acker Bilk and Johnny Dankworth. The underground stage also served as a launchpad for emerging local performers, such as Ringo Starr—who played percussion for Rory Storm’s Hurricanes—as well as The Quarry Men Skiffle Group, which included John Lennon, and eventually Paul McCartney and George Harrison. The Beatles transformed into the club’s resident group, honing their style and gathering prestige before they ignited the global craze of Beatlemania.

During the 1960s, The Cavern was the absolute epicenter of the scene, attracting world-class artists ranging from Chuck Berry to Stevie Wonder, who played there in 1966 at just fifteen years old. Since then, the venue has hosted an incredible roster of musicians, from The Rolling Stones, The Who, Queen, and Elton John to Oasis, Adele, The Arctic Monkeys, and local favorites like Jamie Webster, reinforcing its status as a vibrant, enduring chapter of musical legacy.

Julia Baird, John Lennon’s sister and co-owner of the club, remarked: “My brother John always said his happiest times as a band were playing in the Cavern. He wasn’t alone in his love of this wonderful club and what a great opportunity to get those stories and memories together in one place. Here’s to another seventy years!”

Documenting seventy years of memorable concerts, shows, and nightlife, “70 Years of The Cavern Club” tracks the venue’s various shutdowns, its reconstruction, and its eventual resurgence, tracing its path to being recognized as a vital component of a UNESCO City of Music. The exhibit features personal anecdotes and direct testimonials, bringing the broader narrative of Liverpool’s musical heritage to life through the perspectives of the people who experienced it firsthand. The display portrays The Cavern Club as a collective cultural journey, defined by everyone who participated in its past and everyone who keeps it alive today.

Karen O’Rourke, Curator of Sport, Music and Performance at the Museum of Liverpool, added: “The Cavern Club is so much more than the dank basement where The Beatles were discovered, it’s a cellar full of noise that has shaped Liverpool’s identity for seventy years. This exhibition is our chance to tell that fuller story: the rise, the fall, the emotion, the people and its life today as a hard-working venue. We want visitors to leave our exhibition feeling The Cavern Club the way generations from across the globe have felt it, not as a historic place, but as a living, breathing part of our amazing city”

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