SOME FOLK worship the ground their heroes walk on. For others, preserving the stage that their heroes danced or sang on does the job just the same. And now that the doors of Dublin's Adelphi cinema are permanently closed, one fanatical chap is determined to achieve the latter.
Pete Brennan (35), a laboratory technician at HB, founded the Beatles Ireland fan club in 1993 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Beatles playing at the Adelphi - the band's only ever Irish gig. To salvage a piece of the Adelphi stage is, for him, salvaging a piece of history.
Pete mourns the passing of the Adelphi, and believes that it should have been saved from the bulldozers. What gives a building value, aside from the architecture, if it is not the people who have passed through its doors? And, according to Pete, the Adelphi stage has seen its share of stars. They include Ronald Reagan, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Merlene Dietrich, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Gene Pitney, and Diana Ross. John Wayne and John Ford even used the Adelphi to check footage of The Quiet Man.
Although Pete did not attend the Beatles' only Irish (25 minute) gig on November 7th, 1963, he does have a ticket from that night, priced six shillings and sixpence, which is "priceless" to him. When he broaches the subject of the Adelphi's demolition, his eyes darken and his spirited fanaticism momentarily disappears.
"There was no big thing made out of the closure, which I thought was terrible," he says. "Our tabernacle is gone. We have no altar on which to reflect. It's very sad and it is a shame, but that's all in the name of progress for a new car park."
Yet the 600 (or so) members of Beatles Ireland continue to meet on the last Tuesday of every month in Coopers of Abbey Street. Pete attends the annual convention in Liverpool, where he continually met other Irish fans: "So I said to myself: `Wouldn't it be great if we could do likewise?' And we did. We are growing all the time, and have members from all over the world." The club is not only an excuse for a knees up and a sing song, it also donates any profits to Crumlin's Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children.
For the last three years Pete has been collecting Beatles stories, in the hope of making an Irish oriented documentary. His latest titbit comes from Gay Byrne, whose favourite Beatle memory took place in Granada Studios in 1962 when John Lennon asked him if he would consider managing the band. Gay, as it turned out, was too darn busy.
He is keen to highlight the Beatles' Irish heritage. Paul McCartney and John Lennon each had two Irish grandparents. But the club has another long pursued agenda here, where emotions run high. "We still feel that Paul McCartney is ignoring his Irish fans," he tells me.
"The highest profile Beatle member hasn't played in Ireland since 1963. All we want to know is why Irish fans are getting a raw deal. Even the American ABC network have been on to me about this matter. If we didn't care, we wouldn't have gone to all this trouble."
Fair enough. But has all this unpleasantness tarnished McCartney's image here? (Does Paul McCartney eat meat?) Not on your life. Loyally is a prerequisite of any true fan. Pete is no exception: "His music has crossed all barriers and is still as strong and influential. He doesn't seem to have the airs and graces that other pop stars of that calibre have. I feel sad that Irish Beatle fans are deprived of that, and I don't really think he knows about that. If he knew, he would act on it. He's that kind of man."
A recent article in the New Yorker put forth the theory that choosing your favourite Beatle is a milestone in your life, and can say as much about you as your DNA. So who is Pete's favourite? Ringo (Thomas the tank engine) Star? John (iconic hipster) Lennon? George (decent bloke) Harrison? Or could it be the mild mannered Paul (we all stand together) McCartney? It is, of course, Paul: a choice reflected in Pete's earthy good nature.
As you would expect, Pete does not object to the Beatles' latest album, The Anthology, in which John Lennon was famously (digitally) reunited with the band. "It has been said `let it be'." (Ouch!) "But I don't think the album has cheapened them. If the three remaining Beatles get together on stage, however, it would be like sacrilege, like a car running on three wheels."
A day doesn't go past in Pete's life with him listening to at least one Beatles tune. But he is in no doubt where fanaticism ends and obsession begins. "Other people might say I'm obsessive, but I'm not. I have seen other fans eat, drink and sleep the Beatles. I do have another life aside from the Beatles. I can switch off. It's very time consuming and it is a labour of love, and sometimes you think... why? But I've never said that I'd give up on it, because I'm not that kind of person."
He would not be surprised if a U2 convention, on the same scale as the annual Beatles Liverpool convention, took place in 20 years' time - attracting visitors from all over the world. Now that's something to think about an international 112 bonanza, complete with memorabilia, anecdotes, round the clock music and tours of the venues where Bono and the boys strutted their stuff. .. oh Lordy! Forgive me, Pete, but in this instance I'd personally supply the bulldozers.