IT is said that Facebook is a better Friends Reunited - linking you with not just old school pals but bringing you the day to day of every soul from your past: resurrections of lifetimes long consigned to boxes in the dusty loft of the mind.
And when Eric’s club closed for good, in 1980, there can’t have been many a young buck who envisaged making it into their fifties and beyond, not to mention once again rubbing shoulders and liniment at the bar with all those familiar punks, posers and piss-heads while ordering a red witch for their favourite anarchist-ette.
Yet the tool of the devil that is social networking has made the improbable happen: this weekend the punk and post-punk children of rock n roll will gather for two events making up the “Eric’s Social”.
“Open to ALL who frequented, heard of, experienced or just loved the idea of – Eric's club in Liverpool in the late 1970s”, the first part of the reunion will take place at District in the Baltic zone, the venue owned by former Eric’s stalwart and Big In Japan front-person Jayne Casey.
The English, a popular combo of the time
It is thought to be the first organised regrouping in 34 years. Naturally Norman Killon, original Eric’s DJ and the polite person behind the counter at Probe records, is on the decks for all your Booker T and the MGs needs, and there will be songs and sketches and jokes old and new from 7pm, when Lin Sangster kicks off the evening with a DJ set, until late.
The next day (Sunday August 24) there is more: An "Eric's Juke Box" tent will be set up in Sefton Park which is hosting LIMF over the bank holiday weekend, Expect DJs, a speakers' corner video booth, street food, Eric's bingo with the Hostess of Ceremonies, and more. You will have to go for a wander about to find it, however, but it shouldn't be too hard to locate your old homeys
"On Sunday we thought it would be good if we set up a base in Sefton Park where we could have a drink, watch the bands and enjoy the sun.. I will choose a good spec for us when the site is set up on Saturday and post the info,” says Ms Casey.
The events follow on from the huge success and daily reminiscences of a closed Facebook group whose members and their enthusiasm for posting “Does anyone feel old?” would put Mumsnet in the shade. It all gives the impression that Eric’s never went away.
Eric’s, the creation of the late Roger Eagle and Deaf School's current manager, Ken Testi, in the mid 1970s (later joined by Pete Fulwell) was a beacon on the tour circuit for national and international bands of the time: Elvis Costello, the Buzzcocks, The Clash, Joy Division and Ramones. It also hosted the Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Slits, The Stranglers, Ultravox, Wire, XTC, X-Ray Spex and saw early gigs by U2, New Order, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Mick Hucknall in his Frantic Elevator days.
It also acted as the fertility ground for local bands like Dead or Alive, Echo and the Bunnymen, Julian Cope, The Teardrop Explodes and Wah! Heat.
The Mathew Street venue was reopened by a businessman, John Lynch, as Eric’s Live in 2011, to vehement opposition. It closed, in its present incarnation, earlier this year.
To mark this weekend's rather more auspicious events, there will, of course, be badges. Will Pete Wylie be there? He is, as they say, available.
*Eric’s Social, District (formerly The Picket), 61 Jordan St, Liverpool, Saturday, August 23, 7pm until late.
And Sefton Park tent, exact spot tbc, Sunday, August 24, 2pm onwards.
