A lost Liverpool music venue known for hosting up and coming acts and well-known artists was seen as a "rite of passage" for musicians in the city.
Back in September 2005, Korova first opened its doors in Liverpool city centre and became a "cultural hub for musicians." Located on Fleet Street in what is now the site of Black Rabbit, the venue was the brainchild of Rob Gutmann, Evol promoter Steve "Revo" Miller and Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu of Liverpool band Ladytron.
The venue had numerous rooms including a bar section and a basement area for gigs, with the likes of Klaxons, 2manydjs and Florence & The Machine performing there in its time. At one point, Korova also offered food in the day and customers could pull down sixties-style TVs from the ceiling to watch old films in their bright red booths.
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By the late noughties, Korova moved to Hope Street, but in 2010 the site was hit by a devastating blaze. The venue later reopened as Frederiks.
With Korova's first home, Rob Gutmann said that the "bread and butter" of the business was not to focus on "underground indie style bands" in the city. Rob told the ECHO: "I'm just a big music fan and love going to gigs and it was just something I always wanted to do - open a cool music venue where all of the sort of bands I would want to listen to were playing.
"I also thought at the time Liverpool didn't have a lot for small up and coming bands. The name came from A C lockwork Orange. T he film is one of my favourite films and there's an iconic scene where the main protagonist is in The Korova Milkbar and its a very interesting venue even though it’s not real. I thought it was the great thing to call a bar."
Steven 'Revo' Miller, of EVOL promotions was Korova's promoter and booker and said the venue was a year in planning before it opened and their ideas "started to come to life."
He told the ECHO: "I remember walking about the shell of the venue before work started with Rob, Richard, Danny and Reuben, and then once the work began it was a race to be open for our opening night when To My Boy where the first band on stage and The Rascals headlined. The paint was still drying when we opened.
"There was a great atmosphere, Korova was designed to be a cultural hub for musicians and it worked instantly, we spent a lot of time on the playlist, the programming and the aesthetic and everything came together, and very quickly it felt like a community and there was a sense of ownership and pride amongst the crowd. I can remember the first time walking out of the basement and into the main bar and just seeing all the rock 'n' roll faces, the haircuts, the jackets and the scarves."
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The design of the venue was a collaboration between Rob, Richard Eastwood of R2 Architecture and Sam Weihl of Burn graphic design, who together wanted to create a "cool hangout" with a futuristic yet modern look. Rob said: "We had things like an old jukebox in it and we kind of juxtaposed some of the modern elements with more traditional things, like the bar itself was a Victorian bar and it looked sort of out of place but worked really well.
"We had old films on in the day and had these crazy sixties TVs all over the building which you could pull down from the ceiling so you could look at them in your booth. We did all kinds of weird and wonderful themed nights."
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Up and coming musicians from across the city and further afield would come to play at the venue. Big names included Mark Ronson, and the venue also appeared on the cover of the Artic Monkey's first album.
Revo said: "We had a lot of bands pass through, Korova was seen as a rite of passage for Liverpool, we had some outstanding shows from the likes of Foals, Friendly Fires, Reverend & The Makers, CSS, New Young Pony Club, Klaxons, The xx, 2manydjs and Florence & The Machine. It was the venue for embryo artists who could build their crowd up in Liverpool before moving on to the bigger venues.
"The chaos of the 2manydjs night for Evol's second birthday and standing there thinking what had we done, the two nights with Ladytron and seeing them crammed on stage with all their analogue gear and the New Years Eve nights where we'd have about 10 bands playing and a full house with a special atmosphere. There's so many moments I remember from the comments made by the bands coming off stage who loved playing there to the famous visits of Hollywood directors and more established bands and DJs."
By 2009, the ECHO reported how Korova was to close its current premises and move across the city centre to Hope Street, relaunching in the former Roadkill venue, next to the Philharmonic Dining Rooms, which at the time had been targeted by Tesco. But the following year, the Hope Street venue was hit by a devastating blaze, suffering significant water damage and flooding to its main bar, ground floor and basement.
At the time, the p romoter frantically rearranged concerts earmarked for Korova and searched for alternative venues. In 2011, it was announced that the venue would reopen, but not as Korova and instead look for a new operator. And in 2013, the site re-opened as bar and restaurant Frederiks.
Both Rob and Revo said the venue is still remembered to this day and spoken fondly about to this day. Revo said: "Korova always seems to come up in the conversations.
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"A lot of things grew out of it, the shows influenced a lot of Liverpool bands and because it was a special time people have very fond memories. It's always interesting to hear things from other perspectives as you have your own memories, but there are stories that come up that even when working there you don't hear about until 15 years later."
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Rob said he wishes Korova was still here in some form or other and that talks of reviving it have come up over the years, but that in some ways, it's good to remember and love it as it was in the past. He said: "The idea that we achieved something that people told us was special, that musicians in Liverpool say 'we were in a band when we were younger and we played at Korova, loved that place,' it's more that broad sense of satisfaction I think. We set out to was to create a music venue that would be remembered in Liverpool for a very long time.
"The thing that made the venue was not only did it look great - I still think that interior would look cool today - but it was the musicians and acts who played there that made the venue was it was and gave it the reputation it went on to have. That's why it is still remembered."
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