Beatleweek review from MerseyBeat Legends weekly mailing list:

Sunday 29th - after a serious lack of sleep all round, it's up at 08:00 and away to Liverpool for International Beatle Week. We arrived at the Adelphi at 2:30 to check in and check out who was around. Our first spot wasn't until 6.20 that evening, so it was away to our old friend Lynne for a cup of tea and a sandwich. Aaahh the rock 'n' roll life. Back to the Adelphi for 6.00, in time to see Beatalls UK finishing their set. It's amazing how well Ian the bass player has taken to playing left handed, just for the sake of extra authenticity. Bumped into The Prellies in reception too - they'd just finished in The Cavern and Gavin, their bassplayer, could hardly talk. If ever you get the chance to see either of these bands, jump at it. They are both fantastic, but in very different wasy. Beatalls play the part of Beatles, and do a good job too. The Prellies don't play any Lennon/McCartney songs, but play - with so much energy and enthusiasm - the songs the Beatles played in Hamburg.

Our Adelphi set was well received, with an enquiry about travelling to Holland. We also met a couple of Germans for the first time - Horst & Christian - who came to all of our subsequent gigs too.

After the set, there was just time to grab a bite to eat, then it was off to The Cavern. Our set was at 11 pm, so we arrived at about 10:40. Liverpool was cool and quite windy that evening, but once inside the doorway of the Cavern, the tempertaure went up to 100 degrees or more, with a humidity that felt like 200%! Even the walls were sweating. If it hadn't been for the refuge of the underground car park (same temperature, but dry atmosphere) I doubt any of the bands would have made it through. Whilst waiting, we met Rocks Off, a Swedish tribute to the Rolling Stones. A great friendly bunch, and a great band too. We only had time to see them play "It's Only Rock & Roll", but if that's anything to go by, they were great. We also met "Ringo" in the Fab Four. We didn't get to see them play, but they have a great reputation. Our own set went down a storm, of course. It must be that the crowd welcome a change from wall-to-wall Beatles bands, because our non-Beatle material drew the best response. We received one unusual request, and that was NOT to play "You'll Never Walk Alone". Apparently singing that song is one of the easier ways to start a fight in Liverpool.

Monday 30th. Not much sleep again. Into the city for a 1pm gig at Rubber Soul. This is a huge bar in Matthew Street, just along from The Cavern. When we arrived, "Mad Dogs" were playing. They are a German tribute to Joe Cocker, but included a couple of Lennon/McCartney (or should that be McCartney/Lennon) songs, though very different arrangements to the original versions. They went down pretty well too. We thought that they would be a hard act to follow, but we had reckoned without the loyalty of the fans from the previous day. A rousing reception for us, and even favourable comments from the sound engineers, who by this time must feel pretty jaded about the whole Beatles experience. In the street outside the bar, we bumped into Billy Butler, the legendary Liverpool DJ. Billy interviewed Yanni in the street for his afternoon show on BBC Merseyside, which was transmitted at about 3:15 the same afternoon. A copy of the interview will be posted to the site soon.

Last gig of the festival for us was at 5pm back in the Cavern. This time we were on the "McCartney" stage, aka "Stage 2" or "Cavern Back". Sadly, no refuge in the car park from the heat and humidity, but a much larger changing room, so better socialising with the other bands. This time we met the Brazilian girls of "Acustika", and those pesky Beatalls again. It's starting to sound monotonous, but the band went down really well, and received a really warm reception (physically and metaphorically) The crowd were very happy to sing along, and in spite of protests from Stevie P (the Cavern MC) and security men throughout the area, we performed "You'll Never Walk Alone". Not one punch was thrown, so you worried for nothing Steve.

Once that was played, that was it - our International Beatle Week 2004 was over. We've been there, done that, and once again bought the t-shirt.