Let It Be, a Beatles-themed music performance venue and bar at 716 Clinton St. in downtown Waukesha, is finally opening with regular hours.
Although the space – a recreation of Liverpool, England’s subterranean Cavern Club, where the Beatles got their start – has been open for one-off special occasions for much of the year.
However, beginning on Thursday, Dec. 12 it will be open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, according to owner Dave Meister.
The club is the state’s – and Meister’s – second Cavern Club recreation.
More than seven years ago, Meister created another one in the lower level of an unassuming office building in Hartland.
The original Cavern in Liverpool – at which the Beatles played nearly 300 times, beginning with their first appearance (as the Quarrymen) on Aug. 7, 1957 – was demolished in 1973, its underground arches filled with the rubble from the building above. A replica version was built on the site in 1984 using some of the bricks from its predecessor.
“This (Waukesha) replica of The Cavern is a little bit bigger than the one in Liverpool,” Meister notes. “I was in the one in Liverpool a year ago and that one is more like the one in Hartland except that it has three tunnels. It has tunnels for seating on either side of the main event tunnel.
“Here I just have the main tunnel in both places, otherwise, on the sides you can’t really see the stage too much.”
While the Hartland Cavern has a capacity of about 50, Let It Be is much larger.
“I have a 37-foot bar and I have seating for 60 in the main section and then in the two arches I’ve got seating for 12," Meister says. "The bar has got 18 seats."
Let It Be has been hosting occasional events since at least May, when it was the site of a fundraiser for a memorial commemorating the Waukesha parade tragedy. Later, it hosted an event with radio legend Bob Barry to celebrate his connection to the Beatles’ September 1964 Milwaukee appearance.
There have also been jazz performances by saxophonist Juli Wood and others, an event with Les Paul Foundation Program Director Sue Baker and, just recently, a pair of holiday-related performances.
“It’s a long and winding road I’ve been on and still am on,” quips Meister, referencing Paul McCartney’s ballad from the 1970 “Let It Be” album, the Beatles’ last.
Though the venue has a full bar, it is not yet serving food.
“We don’t have our food license yet, so we can’t serve food,” Meister says. “I hired a chef and (when) it wasn’t done ... I had to let him go. So now I’m doing a recruitment effort in the next month to look for bartenders and a chef.”
In the meantime, Meister has some bartenders that can keep the place running.
Beginning on Thursday, the house band will be Beatles-inspired quartet The Taxmen on Thursdays and Saturdays, and Meister will book other local musicians on Fridays.
The doors open at 5 p.m. and the music will start at 7. Cover is $10.
Although he’s kicking off the three-nights-a-week schedule this week, note that the club will not be open the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
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