Liverpool-Live

Queues formed early on the red carpet as a buzzing Mathew Street waited for the famous nightclub to open its doors again. Two giant banners bedecked the exterior of the venue keen to push the message that the club will be a new addition to the city's live music circuit.

Musical Director Ethan Allen and club owner John Lynch welcomed the invited guests as local band Xander and the Peace Pirates played classic rock anthems upstairs in the freshly painted bar.

But it is the journey down to the darkened basement that surprises most. Taking in to account the changes that had to be made for modern day fire and health & safety regulations, the design and layout follows as closely to the original as possible. The stage is in its original position although the height has been reduced to prevent artists banging their heads on the low beams as Elvis Costello famously did before walking off mid set and refusing to return.

Some 30 years have passed since the Psychedelic Furs played the final salvo in the club and North West band electro pop outfit Kids on Bridges acknowledged that fact before playing the first set of the new era.

But everyone was here to see OMD who played their first ever gig in Eric's over 30 years ago. Breaking from a World tour Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys played a nine song set, concentrating on the early part of their career.

The Wirral band pleased their fans opening with first single 'Electricity' and including the classics 'Souvenir' and 'Maid of Orleans' before closing with 'Enola Gay'. Faced with an unscheduled encore the band chose 'Electricity' once more to close the night.

The project has had its detractors in the city and despite this successful opening night, the hard work to make this new incarnation of Eric's a credible music venue starts now. With some great acts already booked including Trombone Shorty and Terrorvision things are looking bright.

For more details: www.ericslive.com

Video by Suffolkref