Liverpool's Cavern Club will set sail for the first time when a replica of legendary home of The Beatles is installed on a giant cruise liner next year.
Norwegian
Cruise Line, which is one of the world’s leading brands, has just
signed an exclusive deal with the club’s owner, Cavern City Tours, to
recreate the Mathew Street basement club onboard its 4,100 passenger liner MS Norwegian Epic.
Cavern Club
bosses hailed the deal with Norwegian Cruise Line for the “Cavern at
sea” as having a “foot in the past and a hand in the future”, and will
assist in finding suitable talent to play in it.
The deal was announced to the international travel press by Norwegian Cruise Line at a special dinner at the Cavern Club only a few hours after it was signed last night.
The design is yet to be released.
Norwegian Cruise Line undertook intensive research on its ships
before deciding the Cavern Club and The Beatles had a matchless appeal
to European and American guests, far beyond any other international
music venue.
The new Cavern Club at sea, with its
authentically-replicated trademark brick arches, will be built into
Norwegian Epic when the 155,000 gross ton cruise liner is refitted in
France in autumn 2015.
It will be ready for the vessel’s return to service on October 11, 2015, when she starts cruising from Barcelona.
Norwegian Epic will have the distinction of having the only Cavern Club afloat as there are no plans to install other replicas of it on any other of Norwegian Cruise Line’s 13 ships.
Francis
Riley, Norwegian Cruise Line vice president international, said: “I’m
absolutely thrilled with this deal. The Cavern Club on Norwegian Epic
with its distinctive arches will immerse our customers in the whole
Beatles experience.
“The Cavern and the Beatles transcend all
nationalities, backgrounds and generations, as we found out when we
tested the idea with a series of shows onboard our ships. The kids have
as much fun as the adults as this is lovely music which all people like.
“The
concept meets all our criteria and ticks all the boxes. It’s innovative
and guests are going to have a terrific experience. During Norwegian
Epic’s refit next September and October we will take out a blues and
jazz club venue and recreate the Cavern in that space.
“I’m
delighted the Cavern Club here in Liverpool is also helping us find the
talent to perform appropriate music on the ship to that which you’d find
in the original club in its past and present.”
Nick Wilkinson, Norwegian Cruise Line business development director, who comes from Birkenhead,
said: “I’m really proud of this idea as everyone knows the Cavern and
the Beatles and it will bring such an innovative musical experience to
the ship.”
A Cavern Club spokesman said: “This deal has been in
planning for some time and I’m delighted we’ve signed the contract for
the Cavern at sea to happen.
“Norwegian Cruise Line appreciate our great history and heritage.”
The
original Cavern Club opened in January 1957 as a jazz club, later
becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the 1960s
with the top Merseybeat groups and singers including Cilla Black.The Beatles played 292 times there between February 1961 and August 1963.
No comments:
Post a Comment