♪ “Listen, do you want to know a secret”? ♪ The first Latin American Beatles museum opened this past January in Paseo La Plaza located on Corrientes Avenue! It is part of a complex dedicated to the Beatles and it is composed of the Star Café, the Cavern Club, the Cavern Pub, Sala John Lennon and the museum. There are many performances regularly at the club, pub and Sala that includes a wide variety of Beatles tribute bands. A private collector named Rodolfo Vazquez holds the World Guinness Record for having the largest collection of Beatles memorabilia opened the museum. Rodolfo began collecting at the age of ten after hearing the Beatles for the first time. Since then, his collection has grown to 8,500 pieces that range from birth certificates, original records, 8-tracks, a wide variety of merchandise like a Liverpool Monopoly game, the Beatles board game, watches, beanie babies, figurines, signed checks and even replicas of the costumes worn by the Fab Four.
The Beatles never played in Argentina but Mr. Vazquez has now made Buenos Aires part of Beatles history as his museum is one of three in the world of its kind. The other two Beatles museums are located in Liverpool, England and Hamburg, Germany. If you are planning on visiting the museum I suggest stopping at the Star Café after and indulging in a café con leche y tres medialunas as you enjoy the selection of Beatles songs played on the radio. If you really want a treat, you can buy tickets of about 40 pesos to see one of the Beatles tribute bands that play regularly at the Cavern Pub and the Cavern Club. I attended one of the performances of the 4!Beatleband in the Cavern Pub. The pub is a smaller venue that seats about 40-50 in front of the band that lends itself to provide a more intimate setting for the concertgoers. This band primarily sings some of the first Beatles hits and lesser-known solos. The members of 4! share some of the history of each song as well as general Beatles trivia. This is a great show for those that would like to learn about how the band got together. The band stays true to the time period with clothing that is reminiscent of the late 1950s when Paul met John and they played in the band called The Quarrymen. One of the band members, Hernan, even looks like a young Paul McCartney down to the facial expressions as he sings. If 4!Beatleband are not playing that night, it is worth checking out the other bands who are just as good. Rodolfo also hosts an annual ‘Beatle Week’ and bands compete to win a trip to Liverpool. The next one is scheduled to begin on the 29th of November. You can look up dates to events on their website www.thecavern.com.ar
