An Audience with Some Other Guys

60 years ago, The Merseybeat, heart, soul and sounds of Liverpool were about to explode across the globe, just a few short years after originating in the city’s music clubs. In February 1961, The Beatles did their first performance at the Cavern under that name, and a year later their first televised performance was recorded by Granada. By the end of 1962 they had given 262 performances, helping The Cavern become the most famous club in the World.

However, the Merseybeat musical genre was so much more than just the goliath that was The Beatles. With live music lunchtimes and evenings, many other clubs and pub venues across the city were a haven for music lovers and performers alike, and so many great names from across the North West emerged from that scene. In 1962 a young drummer from Prescot called Alan Noone stepped on to the stage in the Cavern Club for the first time. Just 16 years old, it was the start of a long career that saw him play alongside The Riot Squad, SKY, The Mark Peters Method, The Steve Alan Set and more. The epitome of the “Some other Guys” famed for creating and developing the Mersey Sound, he would never walk alone. Hundreds of young men and women from the Liverpool area, picked up a guitar, a drum, a brass instrument, or a microphone, and made their claim to fame on the stages of Liverpool and Manchester. And many are still playing today.

Alan thought it was time some of the other guys had one more shot on a famous stage in Merseyside, and where better than the magnificent surroundings of the Shakespeare North Playhouse, built within just a few hundred yards of his childhood family home.

Your host is Steve Willock (Writer and Producer) who will take us through the stories, the influences and the music that have everyone on their feet and singing along.

Alan, with our fantastic live band led by Gillan Edgar and Jim Wilson, with female vocalist Daisy Kate, provide the platform for our special guests. November 9th sees the return of Pete Maclaine (Original lead singer of The Dakotas) and Ian Goodall (Tony D and The Shakeouts), and new for Prescot, we welcome Tony Coates of the Merseybeats, to perform the songs that provided each with their brush with fame and musical memories for us all across six decades.

Shakespeare North Playhouse is proud to be able to welcome them back to perform again for a special night, to remember back to when the world adopted the music of Liverpool!