I love the art of the “dig”. Flicking through the crates of vinyl that the specialist vendors present each year to fill the gaps in my collection. The prices seem to be ever increasing but that doesn’t stop me necessarily from “investing” in my collection. This is, I must confess, one of the draws to the convention each year. The other is the guests that accept an invitation to speak at the event.

This year saw the 40th anniversary of my first visit to Liverpool and the annual Beatles Convention. Roll on to 2023 and I find myself once again at the Adelphi Hotel the venue of the premier Beatles fan event here in the UK. Liverpool is the obvious choice to host an event which welcomes fans from all over the world to the historic birthplace of the Beatles and it was encouraging this year to hear an increased number of overseas fans in attendance. The Adelphi, which despite its peeling paint and plaster, still acts as a familiar and welcoming host. The format though, despite a few minor tweaks here and there, has remained unchanged over the many times that I have attended over the 40 year span.

Let’s be frank. We are way into the age where the availability to listen to those that were first hand participants or witnesses; “Inner Circle” guests; is significantly diminished. In the 80’s, when I first went to Liverpool, the guests, likes of Bob Wooler and Alan Williams would hold court over proceedings. Naturally, the type of quality guest available today that was “there” is difficult to find. The fabulous experiences of the live Evolver shows presented by Mark Lewisohn and the equally enjoyable EggPod event hosted by Chris Shaw illustrate perfectly that you do not need to be part of the “Inner Circle” to be both interesting and entertaining. The positive “Beatle Community” vibe that permeated both these events is sadly lacking from what is a stale and fading format adopted for the Beatles Convention. There must be plenty of people outside the “circle” that could and would offer an enlightening viewpoint on the Beatles. The guests contributing to the aforementioned Evolver and Eggpod shows are testament to this.

Another untapped resource on the guest front is that of YouTube / PodCasters. There are many hosts that are now at the forefront of the Beatles landscape producing unique and engaging content on a regular basis. So why not have a panel comprising Chris Shaw, Andrew Dixon, Beatley Tone, Beatle Dave etc and I for one would love to hear the musings of Andrew from Parlogram on a collecting masterclass. Whilst I enjoyed listening to Laurence Juber speaking at this years convention and salute his answering the questions posed to him and his willingness to sign autographs and pose for selfies until the queue had evaporated. Did I hear anything that I hadn’t heard before? No. Perhaps, mixing up the interviewer may help too. Spencer Leigh, while being very knowledgeable about early period Beatles / Liverpool persisted in asking Laurence about the performance of Live & Let Die with Wings … a track he said he hadn’t actually performed with Wings.

Laurence Juber was a little delayed in arriving for his time slot, having been making a prior appearance at the Cavern. Two, very hastily, arranged guests filled in some time until he arrived: Helen Anderson; fellow art college contemporary of John Lennon and designer of the famous Lennon cap and also Keith Badman video / film expert extraordinaire. Both were unscheduled, yet interesting guests plucked from their respective stalls in the marketplace and were, quite frankly, deserving of more time. Also on the guest front both David Bedford and Mark Lewisohn were announced as confirmed guests on the Beatleweek website yet neither took the stage at the Convention. Mark was in attendance and confirmed to me that he was there in his capacity as a fan only, off the clock, and deservedly spending his time absorbing Beatledom in an un-official capacity. The line-up listing on the Beatleweek website is massively weighted towards bands / tribute acts that occupy the various stages at the convention and around Liverpool. Is this what drives footfall to Liverpool each year? Perhaps it is, but it doesn’t for me and I suspect many others the balanced has shifted too far in this direction.

Having the main ballroom and previous lounge bar areas at the rear of the Adelphi for the areas assigned for live music was a tweak from previous years. This actually led to competing “sound” in the rear of the hotel and removing a bar area that was also a great place to meet and catch up with old friends in a relaxed setting. A shame this has been replaced.

40 years is a long time and I acknowledge that it could be just me that feels that a refresh is overdue to the Liverpool Convention format that has remained in tact for all this time. We shall see whether I will continue to be drawn to the city of Liverpool for the August bank holiday in future but for me the weaknesses in presentation and schedule only serve to increasingly count against it. Time will tell …

Review by Gwyn Jenkins.