The Prellies

As Beatleweek surely shows, Beatles Tribute bands come in many different guises. There are lookalikes, soundalikes, solo Beatles tributes, 'boots and suits', acoustic, a cappella, instrumental and avant-garde bands. There was even that punk style band The Punkles a few years back!

One of the most popular bands among true Beatles fans are the early years groups, who focus on the Hamburg and Cavern era. These bands play real raw rock and roll, with the same enthusiasm as the Fab Four did when they were first starting out and audiences are swept along with their energy! We have featured several bands of this genre over the years and this year we're proud to introduce a new young band of local lads who have been rocking Liverpool for the last year.

The Prellies (named of course after the speed pills the Beatles were fed in Hamburg to help them 'Mach Shau' for 7 hours!) were formed last year by four friends who were on a Beatles on-line community and realised they shared an interest in the pre-fame era Beatles and an appreciation of the Star Club Recordings.

They originally formed the band with the intention of recreating the mysterious 'Cavern recording' that Paul McCartney purchased at an auction several years ago, which has never been heard by the public. The Prellies made their debut at Live@pool Tours Paul McCartney Day at Pete Best's Casbah Club in June 2002, which guitarist Trev describes as "a childhood dream… the most fantastic place I've ever played and everything I'd imagined it could be." They have continued to trace the footsteps of the heroes with gigs at The Jacaranda and The Cavern Club.

They still haven't recreated the Cavern recording though… maybe they'll surprise us with it at one of their shows over the weekend.

Prepare to be transported back to St Pauli in 1961 with Chris "Toffee Apple" Henderson, Gareth Evans, Trevor Townsend and Julian Heath… The Prellies!