In the Footsteps of Giants: TC‘s Mark Staycer Makes the Liverpool Scene

Sept. 22, 2004

It’s been said that you can’t know what it’s like to be a pop superstar until you’ve walked a mile in their Beatle boots, and such was the case for Mark Staycer in late August when he performed at the International Beatles Week celebration in Liverpool, England.
The week is a fairly small affair: only half a million people bother to show up, jamming the streets, clubs and hangouts frequented by the Fab Four before they reinvented the world more than 40 years ago.
Mark, a talented John Lennon imitator from Traverse City who’s a razor-sharp mimic with an encyclopaedic knowledge of The Beatles, was one of the headliners at the event which draws musicians from around the world. He played three shows at the Cavern Pub (which replaced the Cavern Club where The Beatles got their start) and before thousands of people at Liverpool’s Royal Court auditorium and onstage at Matthew Street where his hero John used to hang out.

OVERWHELMING
It was in short, a magical mystery tour.
“The population shock coming from Traverse City is overwhelming with half a million people there all week in one of the biggest world musical parties ever,” Staycer says. “Even the biggest Cherry Festival is no comparison to the Beatle Fest. Everywhere you looked there were people from just about every nation on earth represented, both in the performers and the people who attended.”
Staycer got an unexpected invitation to perform at Beatles Week, possibly based on the success of his shows at the Abbey Road on the River festival in Cleveland, where he’s performed over the past three years; or as a result of his friendships with Lawrence Gilmour (a dead-on McCartney imitator), or his pals in 1964 - The Tribute, who were also festival headliners in addition to being perennial favorites at TC’s Cherry Fest.
“It’s considered a great honor to play at the festival and I consider myself extremely fortunate to be a part of it.” A bonus: Staycer was asked to perform again next year onstage at his concert at the Royal Court, a venue which once showcased Paul McCartney and Wings.
Then too, it was a lucrative venture in that he and his wife Jan received round-trip air tickets, hotel accommodations and other perks to perform all over town to appreciative audiences.

TOO APPRECIATIVE
Staycer even got a taste of what it’s like to be a screaming target of fan adulation. Following a late-night show at the Cavern Pub, he and Jan were chased through the streets in the early hours of the morning by a chanting mob of fans who clutched at his clothes and hair.
“That was a frightening experience,” he recalls. “I think I was more fearful for Jan than myself, getting caught up in it. There was a sizeable crowd following me down Matthew Street after one of the late night shows and I put my hood up, grabbed Jan and my guitar and we ran, with the mob chanting ‘Lennon, Lennon, Lennon!’”
Also in tow was an Italian film crew which is making a documentary on rock music vacations entitled “Rockin’ Holiday.” The crew interviewed Staycer for an hour and filmed his performances for the show which will be aired in Italy and France this December.

STRAWBERRY FIELDS
Staycer said the festival draws an astounding range of talent from countries including Japan, Brazil, Denmark, Argentina, Germany, the U.S. and many others. in addition to doing dead-on imitations of The Beatles or their solo acts, performers offer their own take on the songs with variations ranging from punk to metal, country, reggae and jazz.
There were also numerous Beatles art and collectible dealers on hand and tours to old haunts of the lads from Liverpool.
“We took the Magical Mystery Tour of all the Beatles highlight spots -- everywhere the Beatles lived as children,” he says, adding that although Liverpool was known as a tough, down-and-out industrial wasteland when The Beatles got started in the late-’50s, early-’60s, today it is a charming town filled with shops. “To me it’s a remarkable city, constantly being rebuilt, but still retaining that old world flavor.”
Did the ground shake when he stood in the same places as John Lennon?
“At one point, probably as the culmination of experiencing all of the landmarks firsthand and walking the same old cobblestone streets and standing at the same places they stood at,” he responds. “It finally hit me going to John’s childhood home. I looked at his house and the profundity of it all hit home. It wasn’t just the impact these guys had on their own hometown, but all around the world ,and today the enormity of the crowds gathered in one spot to celebrate what they did.”