NOW & THEN: Liverpool’s Enduring Music Scene
As a prelude to a fantastic music tour (The Beatles Childhood Memories Private Tour run by Strawberry Field, which I’ve written about here), I found myself in Liverpool for the evening with my daughter, Izzie.
The thing about Liverpool is, that despite numerous visits over the years, it’s nigh on impossible to avoid getting sucked into the Beatles vibe that envelops the City.
Well, I say that, but I had already entered into the spirit of things, booking us in for a stay at the Hard Day’s Night hotel.
Hard Day’s Night Hotel
Situated on North John Street and a plectrum’s throw from Mathew Street, the hotel is wonderfully located in the heart of the City centre.
The hotel itself is immaculately decorated in tribute to the Fab Four and themed bedrooms and piped Beatles music in the lobby, restaurants and bars immerse you in their celebrated back catalogue.
My bedroom at the Hard Day’s Night Hotel, Liverpool (Image: Damien Wilkinson)
The Cavern Club
Again, being so close, the pull of the Cavern Club is almost magnetic and we headed there around 4.30pm to sample what was going on.
With an admittance fee of £6 for a single visit (or £8.50 for a VIP Day Pass) we made our way down the staircase to the iconic basement cavern. Not surprisingly the place was pretty busy, packed full of boisterous tourists and Craig (from the band Carousel) was part way through his afternoon set.
We eventually grabbed as ringside seat as the set came to a close and before long, Clark R Gilmour (“Cavern Clark”). Clark is a resident musician for the Cavern Club but also has a passion for Bob Dylan and performs regular tribute gigs (“Tangled Up In Dylan”) to the iconic singer-songwriter. I’d previously come into contact with Clark during a recent Bob Dylan tribute to Desire that I have also reviewed here, which Clark, as a fan, had also attended.
Clark R Gilmour at the Cavern Club, Liverpool (Image: Damien Wilkinson)
Clark delivered a tasteful set of Beatles and 60s songs also finding time to play a Billy J Kramer song (Clark and Craig are performing in Kramer’s band when the 60s Merseyside star plays the Cavern on 6th September 2026).
As you rubbed shoulders with tourists from the US, Japan, Germany, Brazil (Clark calling out a couple who he’d met at a tribute show there) and many other places, mingled with families bringing children to the venue, it was a strong reminder of the enduring power of The Beatles and the impact they continue to have on Liverpool, over sixty years after their formation.
Clark R Gilmour at the Cavern Club, Liverpool (Image: Damien Wilkinson)
With a detour for dinner, we then returned to an even busier and livelier Mathew Street, this time visiting the Wall of Fame before heading to the Cavern Pub, for Ian Prowse’s Monday Night Club.
Damien Wilkinson at the Wall of Fame, Mathew Street, Liverpool (Image: Izzie Wilkinson)
Ian Prowse’s Monday Night Club at the Cavern Pub
Monday Club at the Cavern Pub (Image: Damien Wilkinson)
Merseyside-based singer-songwriter, Ian Prowse, the Amsterdam and Pele frontman, has run his Monday Night Club in Liverpool for over 15 years now.
Entry is free and has the aim of showcasing new and original musical talent. It has very few requirements other than (a) come at 7.55pm and register an interest to play, and (b) ensure you showcase new material, no covers!
The event starts at 8pm and Ian kicked things off with a rendition of new song, “Keynote Speech” from his fabulous new album, No Names.
Ian Prowse kicks the Monday Night Club off (Image: Damien Wilkinson)
After explaining each act would get two songs to play, reminding the crowd to respect the musicians with appropriate silence and attention, and to give a particularly special welcome from acts making their debut, 15 year old Jake Knowles from Eastbourne took to the stage to entertain the crowd with his two songs which he did himself proud with.
Jake Knowles makes his Monday Night Club debut (Image: Damien Wilkinson)
The following few hours saw a variety of musicians from a wide array of places; the USA (CHEERY from Kansas, Jay from Utah, Jeff from NYC), Kensuke Sudo from Japan, Homeward Duo from Italy, Adam from Stockholm, Sweden, Michael from Austria in addition to folks from nearer climes such as Birkenhead (Ian-”they’ve flown over from there to be with us"!”).
Other acts included Breen, Reillo, Izzy B, Mike, Definitely KB, Richie Lane, Ice Cream Robots, Lois Yvonne, Ollie Felton, Alex, Adam, Barry Jones, The Jay Jay Experience, Michael Murray and Alex O’Connor.
In addition to music there were poetry recitals that were well received by the crowd (Charlie Donaldson, The Birkenhead Poet and the indefatigable Dave Jinx Joynson).
Hopefully I’ve not missed anyone but it was a massively packed evening!
More images from the Monday Night Club (Images: Damien Wilkinson)
It was an engaging evening—informal, friendly but most importantly fun! There was a great level of energy both on stage and around the room, with tremendous encouragement offered to both the budding musicians and the more regular participants.
Perhaps most importantly, we got our first experience of the legendary “Hide the Sausage” song, heralded by the strings of sausages adorning the stage from the outset, kindly supplied by the aforementioned Dave Jinx Joynson, in advance of Barry Jones’ recital and audience sing-a-long of the deep and meaningful morality tale of events down the chippy.
You can even enjoy the song from a previous Monday night below!
As can be seen on the above video, there was an enormous amount of love and gratitude within the whole room for the work Ian Prowse has put in to make the Monday Night Club such a roaring and enduring project. The Club recently celebrated its 15 year anniversary (over 15,000 separate performances have taken place there!) with a triumphant ‘taking over’ of The Museum of Liverpool.
It’s worthy of celebrating what is such an endearing open mic session within a city so synonymous with music.
Speaking of which we happened to be sat with Phil Hayes during the evening—before tonight I was not aware of his role in the Liverpool music scene but we picked up some of his story during the breaks between songs and some subsequent research.
Ensuring the Circle is Unbroken: Phil Hayes
Phil, a Croxteth born native of Liverpool and a staunch red, is a key figure in Liverpool’s grassroots music scene.
His entry Into music was inspired by punk rock after seeing The Clash perform at Eric's in 1978. This led him to front the band The High Five, which went on to record three John Peel sessions.
He is best known as the founder and director of The Picket, which was set up in 1983 and functioned as a rehearsal studio and live venue dedicated to nurturing emerging talent, launching bands such as The La’s, Cast and The Coral.
The Picket was also operated as an educational and community enterprise, offering recording experience, workshops, and opportunities for disadvantaged local youth.
Hayes also promoted inner-city music festivals like Liverpool Now and organised high-profile benefit shows supporting the Hillsborough Justice Campaign.
Following well publicised issues after the Liverpool Music Awards in 2012 (an intoxicated Hayes directed antisemitic verbal abuse at Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger) he subsequently suffered significant mental health struggles but has undertaken a long recovery process to rebuild his life while acknowledging the harm caused by his actions.
Phil joined Ian Prowse on stage towards the end of the evening to sing a song written by his father.
Ian Prowse was also keen to highlight the career defining role Hayes played—handing John Peel a copy of Amsterdam’s “Does This Train Stop On Merseyside” which re-energised Prowse’s then floundering career.
Hayes credits the Monday Night Club for helping him play a part in his own recovery and proudly announced to the audience that he was now 23 years sober.
He later professed to us how strong his love for music still was—he talked passionately about many of his favourite (and not so favourite!) bands from the late 60s onwards to us during the evening and it was endearing to hear about the role he played in keeping the Liverpool music scene alive.
Ian Prowse introduces Phil Hayes, Monday Night Club, 26th August 2026 (Image: Stephen Poulson YouTube video still)
A Tale of Two Caverns
So, an evening of new and old, the Cavern Club offering the ‘then’ and counterpart Cavern Pub delivering the ‘now’ within the hotbed of musical activity within this great City.
What is also crystal clear is the binding power that music offers in bringing people together from across the world, be it walking around the Cavern Club, the acts at the Pub or the City in general, it’s a wonderful melting pot that four guys from Liverpool were somehow instrumental in creating, and something that goes from strength to strength.
For more Liverpool related articles please check out my Beatles Childhood Memories Tour and Little Steven’s legendary lunchtime gig at the Cavern Club.
There are further Ian Prowse articles too - read my retrospective of Ian as well as his recent gig at the Liverpool Philharmonic.
