House Used for Early Beatles Gigs Becomes Holiday Rental

A statue of The Beatles, featuring (L-R) musicians Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon, created by sculptur Chris Butler, in their native Liverpool. PAUL ELLIS / AFP
A statue of The Beatles, featuring (L-R) musicians Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon, created by sculptur Chris Butler, in their native Liverpool. PAUL ELLIS / AFP
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House Used for Early Beatles Gigs Becomes Holiday Rental

A statue of The Beatles, featuring (L-R) musicians Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon, created by sculptur Chris Butler, in their native Liverpool. PAUL ELLIS / AFP
A statue of The Beatles, featuring (L-R) musicians Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon, created by sculptur Chris Butler, in their native Liverpool. PAUL ELLIS / AFP

A Liverpool house famous for hosting some of The Beatles' first gigs in the basement has been given a new lease of life listed on Airbnb.
Mona Best, the party-loving mother of the band's original drummer Pete Best, opened the Casbah Coffee Club in the city's West Derby suburb in 1959, just before the group formed, AFP said.
The band went on to perform more than 40 times in the basement of the property, on a leafy residential street, after it had also hosted 13 gigs by John Lennon's first band The Quarrymen.
The Casbah started with Saturday night gigs, but soon opened Friday to Sunday. It closed three years later but has remained a tourist attraction for Beatles fans from around the world.
Now the property has been transformed into suites named after members of the Fab Four -- though one is named for Best rather than Ringo Starr, who became The Beatles' drummer in 1962.
Stuart Sutcliffe, the band's original bass guitarist, also gets a room named in his honor.
"The Beatles played here, The Beatles partied here and The Beatles slept here," Pete Best told Britain's Press Association (PA) news agency, which first reported on the change to a holiday rental listing.
The 82-year-old added it was intended as a "lasting tribute" to the world's most famous band.
He has been working on converting the house into rental accommodation since 2020, along with younger brother Roag, 62 -- the son of The Beatles' road manager Neil Aspinall.
'Unique'
The rooms have been decorated with a "sprinkling" of The Beatles, including photos of band members, posters and guitars on the wall.
The famous basement has been preserved from its 1960s heyday, with drum kits still on display and "John I'm back" scratched into the ceiling above the stage area.
The five suites above have been available to book since early August, with guests from different parts of Britain and the United States already staying over.
They are yet to post any reviews.
Under Airbnb's "what makes my home unique" section, the brothers have playfully entered: "The Beatles played and stayed here".
Prices for next month were starting at around £125 ($163) per night.
Roag revealed to PA that he was actually born in what is now the McCartney suite while most of the band were downstairs.
"So upon being born I was basically presented to The Beatles," he said.
He grew up in the property and moved out aged 24.
Roag noted McCartney has previously said he loved playing in the Casbah because "it was like playing a big house party" and "it felt like a safe place" to try new things.
Explaining the lack of a Starr suite, he added it was "about being authentic".
"The Beatles that performed and partied here were John, Paul, George, Pete and Stuart."



Taylor Swift Ends European Leg of Eras Tour with Surprise-Packed Show

Four police officers show their wrist bands that have names of Swift songs as fans of singer Taylor Swift, called Swifties, arrive at Wembley Stadium in London, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024 for the first of five concerts of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.(AP)
Four police officers show their wrist bands that have names of Swift songs as fans of singer Taylor Swift, called Swifties, arrive at Wembley Stadium in London, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024 for the first of five concerts of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.(AP)
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Taylor Swift Ends European Leg of Eras Tour with Surprise-Packed Show

Four police officers show their wrist bands that have names of Swift songs as fans of singer Taylor Swift, called Swifties, arrive at Wembley Stadium in London, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024 for the first of five concerts of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.(AP)
Four police officers show their wrist bands that have names of Swift songs as fans of singer Taylor Swift, called Swifties, arrive at Wembley Stadium in London, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024 for the first of five concerts of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.(AP)

Taylor Swift was joined by surprise guest Florence Welch for her first live performance of "Florida!!!" during the final European date of her Eras tour on Tuesday.

The pop megastar also debuted "So Long, London", a ballad that fans widely believe is about the end of her relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn, in the acoustic section of the show at Wembley Stadium.

Both tracks feature on Swift's eleventh studio album, "The Tortured Poets Department", which was released this year.

Welch, of British indie rock band Florence + the Machine, co-wrote "Florida!!!" and sang on the recorded track.

Swift drew fans from near and far for the last opportunity to see her critically acclaimed show in Europe.

The US singer-songwriter returned to London's Wembley Stadium last week for five performances following the cancellation of her shows in Vienna, when a planned attack was foiled by authorities.

Some of the 195,000 disappointed fans in Vienna rushed to buy tickets for the London dates on resale sites, where they were changing hands for up to 10 times face value.

Eras, the first tour to surpass $1 billion in revenue, showcases all 11 of Swift's studio albums in dedicated sections. Her performances and the show's staging have been praised by critics.

Fans arriving in Wembley, dressed in sequins, cowboy hats, and forearms covered in friendship bracelets ready to swap with other Swifties, faced tight security checks.

While British police have said there was nothing to indicate the events in Vienna would impact any of the shows at Wembley, there was highly visible security at the stadium.

Tay-gating, the practice of gathering outside a Swift show without a ticket, as thousands did in Munich last month, has been banned, as authorities try to reduce harder-to-control risks outside the venue.

Marie Wright, aged 48, from Limerick, Ireland, bought tickets on a resale site on Monday evening and flew to London on Tuesday with her daughter’s best friend Aoife McCarthy, aged 15. Her own daughter had already seen the show in Dublin.

"She’s going to leave Europe, so we had to come for the last night," McCarthy said.

"Her songs have real meaning and there’s a poetry to them," Wright added.

The tour returns to the United States in October and ends in Vancouver, Canada, in December.