Issue 88 / May 2018

EDITORIAL
Photo by Chris Cooper (shotaway.com)
“The Merseyside
region has always
been at its best
when it’s looking
forwards and
embracing change”
I
really enjoy this time of the year. Writing this in April with May
on our doorstep, I can sense that there’s a real zing in the air that
makes everything feel more alive. Maybe it’s because it’s the
business end of the football season that it feels more exciting,
a risk-reward time of year that speaks of the possibilities and hope
that spring brings. Or maybe it’s just because I get the chance to
watch a match in the sun without the prospect of getting soaked. It’s
a fine line – maybe I need a VAR call to decide it.
May is traditionally a breathless month in this region, with so
much action taking place across the breadth of the cultural spectrum.
It’s a period when you just have to marvel at the ingenuity and
hard work of the people who bring us large-scale events – such as
LightNight, Sound City, Writing On The Wall and Smithdown Road
Festival – and that’s on top of all of the promoters, galleries and
venue owners who continue to do brilliant work in making sure we
have a veritable feast of activities to gorge on all year round. Spring
is also a good time to think about change. It’s a season of renewal,
but it’s also a time to look at things afresh – and we should welcome
the new outlook it brings. A change of perspective is always positive
as it prevents us from getting too comfortable with the status quo.
Liverpool has been a city in constant flux since the turn of the
millennium, accelerated by 2008 and all that, and is visually and
emotionally a very different place to the one that signed off the 20th
Century. This upwards turn has perhaps come a decade or so too
late after years of stagnation, both forced and self-inflicted – but you
can’t doubt that it’s a city on the up. The buzz in the air is palpable,
a feeling that’s so attractive that it keeps tourists and day-trippers
coming here in their droves. It’s hard to gauge what that experience
is like to an outsider, but I’d like to think that it’s a blend of pride
and acceptance, mixed with a ‘can-do’ attitude and an appetite for
having a damn good party. This is a feeling that is intensified around
sporting events, which capture the mood so intensely that they
occasionally spill over into more, err, exuberant celebrations…
I was walking through the Albert Dock recently when I
overheard some visitors to the city musing about where to visit next
on their trip: “Shall we go to the Baltic Triangle or Ropewalks?” It’s
a sign of Liverpool’s transformation that these two hubs of cultural
activity, so commonplace to us, can be seen from the outside
as attractive tourist destinations. Though I rarely use the name,
Ropewalks is an area synonymous with Liverpool’s alternative,
creative spirit, the seeds of which were planted by Urban Splash’s
cultural development 25 years ago. In recent years the Baltic has
dragged some of that focus away from Ropewalks, now playing
home to festivals (Threshold, newcomer On The Corner and the
returning Sound City) and various eating, drinking and brewing
activities. The fact that both are now viewed as ‘hip’ locations is
massively encouraging, and just shows the power of having an
intriguing name to hang the ‘history collides with future’ narrative on.
Let’s hope the same happens for the Fabric District over the coming
years – you can read about the exciting plans for this zone at the
boundary of Kensington, Everton and Islington in this issue.
One city centre designation that I’m not so sure about, however,
is the Cavern Quarter. I first became aware of the Cavern Quarter
as a name via an article in the Liverpool Echo in April, titled ‘Plan to
sort out Mathew Street’. This is an area bounded by Victoria Street,
North John Street, Lord Street and Stanley Street that is the centre
of Beatles-related activity – and it now has its own development
plan, the Cavern Quarter Strategic Regeneration Framework. This
zone is currently seen by the council and its Beatles Legacy Group
as an eyesore in the middle of the great Beatles cash cow, which
is believed to contribute more than £80m to the city’s economy
every year. This figure comes from a 2016 report commissioned by
Liverpool City Council looking into the value of The Beatles’ legacy,
which shows that this micro-industry supports over 2000 jobs,
and helps to attract 800,000 visitors a year to The Cavern Club.
The aim of the Cavern Quarter SRF is to make better use of the
area synonymous with Merseybeat, which includes a much-needed
makeover. Currently, unless you’re a Beatles-obsessed tourist, on a
stag or hen do or lost, you wouldn’t venture down Mathew Street on
a weekend. The word ‘eyesore’ doesn’t quite cover it.
Another point made in the SRF encourages “an enhanced and more
coordinated Beatles tourism offer”. When you look at the numbers it’s
difficult to find a fault with this plan – and I suppose it makes sense in
a grand scheme of enhancing the city’s wider tourism offer. After the
fantastic progress made in the past couple of decades, I’d hope that
the SRF isn’t a path back towards the Mathew Street Festival (as some
murmurings would suggest), as that would be a seriously retrograde
move. The Merseyside region as a whole has always been at its best
when it’s looking forwards and embracing change. And there’s room for
a respectful repackaging of heritage within that.
We’re embracing the winds of change here at Bido Lito! too,
with a slight re-structure of our operations meaning that we are
now recruiting to fill three new roles. This issue marks our eighth
year of publishing, and we’re keen to make sure that the magazine
is still relevant and just as important to Liverpool’s amazing creative
scene in another eight years. We believe that the addition of these
roles – and the fresh perspectives of the people who take them up
– will help us to continue to grow as a critical voice in Merseyside,
and adapt to the changing demands of the publishing and creative
sectors. If you agree with this and you’d like to join the team, head to
bidolito.co.uk/jobs to apply.
Change has come to our team in another form this month, with
this issue being the last one with Bethany Garrett in position as our
Assistant Editor. Bethany has been with us since Issue 1, first as a
valued contributor (and unofficial Maccabees Correspondent) and
latterly as an even more valued member of the creative and editorial
team. We’re all delighted that she is moving on to take up a fantastic
new opportunity, and we’d like to say a huge thank you and good
luck – your presence and Simpsons gifs will be sorely missed! !
Christopher Torpey / @CATorp
Editor
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