By Emma Randle
Beatles fans in the province are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the director of the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool to launch the 50th anniversary celebrations of John Lennon’s visit to Almería.
Jon Keats, from the club known as the “birthplace of the Beatles” will perform at the annual New Year Beatles concert in Almería, at the start of a special year for local cultural association ‘John Lennon Almeria Forever’.
The group, founded by reporter and English enthusiast Adolfo Iglesias in 1999, celebrates Lennon’s visit to the province in 1966 to film ‘How I Won the War’ during which he wrote the song ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’, while staying at Cortijo Romero in the city.
The history of Lennon’s visit recently inspired the film ‘Vivir es Facil con Ojos Cerrados’ (‘Living is Easy with Eyes Closed’) in 2013 that won a string of Goya Awards and was selected as an Academy Award entry for best foreign language film.
Keats began his career playing the role of John Lennon in the musical ‘Imagine’ in Liverpool in 1990.
Speaking to CA News he said the connection with Lennon “never left him” and he went on to form a tribute band that toured internationally playing “the concert that Lennon never gave”.
