McCartney returning to his roots with Cavern Club gig

Sir Paul McCartney will return to where it all began when he performs at the Cavern Club in an exclusive free gig.

The Beatle will take to the stage in the famous venue on Mathew Street, Liverpool, at 2pm on Thursday.

Fans will be able to claim free tickets from the box office at Liverpool’s Echo Arena from 10am.

Organisers have warned space is extremely limited and tickets will be allocated on a first come, first served basis to those who turn up in person.

The Cavern Club is credited as the birthplace of the Fab Four, who played there in their early years.

The cellar bar, which is now on the other side of the road from where the original venue was, last played host to Sir Paul in 1999.

Crowds were already gathering on Mathew Street on Thursday morning as rumours of the gig spread.

The star was in his home city on Wednesday, when he dropped a hint about the gig during a Q&A session at his old school, now the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (Lipa).

He told Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, who was hosting the event: “We are playing the Echo Arena in December but the thing is we also have, tomorrow, we have a little secret gig somewhere in Liverpool.”

During the session, held in an auditorium named after Sir Paul, he paid tribute to his bandmates when asked about the best musicians he had worked with.

He said: “Out of all the ones I’ve worked with it would be the fellow Beatles. It would be John, who was pretty cool, and George and Ringo.

“Having worked with John so one-on-one I got to see his brilliance before the world did.”

After taking questions from students at Lipa, which was founded by Sir Paul, he performed a set with his band on stage.

Tickets for Thursday’s gig are limited to one per person and photo ID will be needed.

The queue for entrance into The Cavern will open at midday and doors will open at 1pm.