Aintree Institute
{{Short description|Former meeting hall and entertainment venue in Liverpool, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
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{{Infobox venue
| name = Aintree Institute
| image = 220px
| image_caption= The Institute in 2006
| location = Walton, Liverpool, England
| type = Live music
| genre= Beat, Rock 'n' roll, Rock
| opened =
| seating_capacity=
| owner =
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}}
The Aintree Institute was a live music venue in Walton, Liverpool, England. From the late 1950s, the venue was associated with Liverpool's growing Merseybeat scene.{{cite book|last=Miles|first=Barry|title=Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now|year=1997|publisher=Secker & Warburg|location=London|isbn=0-7493-8658-4|page=79}}
History
The institute was founded in the 1890s by Sir William Pickles Hartley. In an initial meeting in 1892, Hartley offered £1,000 (approximately £60,000 in 2005Calculated using The National Archives' [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency/results.asp Currency Converter]) towards a project that would see "all the Churches, from the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England down to the very smallest mission room ... enter into a Christlike compact to fight against evil in every form."{{cite web|last=Peake|first=Arthur S|title=The Life of Sir William Hartley|url=http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks07/0701091h.html|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|accessdate=18 September 2011}} After the institute's establishment, the hall was used by the Aintree Photographic Society as a club house and exhibition venue.{{cite book|last=Crookes|first=William|title=The Photographic News for Amateur Photographers|volume=40|year=1896|publisher=Cassell, Petter, and Galpin|location=London|page=661}}
During the Second World War, black people were prohibited from entering the hall. This was the result of a shooting and stabbing incident involving drunken black GIs.{{cite book|last=Reynolds|first=David|title=Rich Relations: The American Occupation of Britain, 1942–1945|year=1995|publisher=Random House|location=New York City|isbn=0-679-42161-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/richrelationsame00rey_pj1/page/312 312]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/richrelationsame00rey_pj1/page/312}}
In the early 1960s, promoter Bill Kelly (also of Lathom Hall) hosted concerts at the Institute billed as "sensational jive dances". The Beatles headlined a number of these evenings, billed as "The Dynamic Beatles"{{cite web|last=Avery|first=Chazz|title=19 August 1961 – Saturday|url=http://www.beatlesource.com/savage/1961/61.08.19%20aintree%20institute/61.08.19aintree.html|work=Photos of the Beatles, 1950s–1963|publisher=The Beatle Source|accessdate=18 September 2011}} or the "Great Boppin' Beatles".{{cite web|last=Harry|first=Bill|title=The Birth of Mersey Beat|url=http://www.triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/birth/|work=Mersey Beat|accessdate=18 September 2011}} The Beatles performed a total of 31 shows at the venue{{cite book|last=Lewisohn|first=Mark|title=The Complete Beatles Chronicle|year=2000|page=38|publisher=Hamlyn|location=London|isbn=0-600-60033-5}}{{cite web|last=Gass|first=Glenn|title=Liverpool: Beatle Clubs, Pubs and Concert Venues|url=http://www.music.indiana.edu/som/courses/rock/clubs.html|work=The Beatles' England|publisher=Indiana University Jacobs School of Music|accessdate=18 September 2011|archive-date=5 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805001905/http://www.music.indiana.edu/som/courses/rock/clubs.html|url-status=dead}} between 7 January 1961 and 27 January 1962.{{cite book|last=Lewisohn|first=Mark|title=The Complete Beatles Chronicle|year=2000|page=64|publisher=Hamlyn|location=London|isbn=0-600-60033-5}} While at the club, it was common for some concertgoers to throw chairs at each other and at the band. The Beatles' final concert at the venue paid £15 (approximately £230 in 2005), but Brian Epstein was furious when Kelly paid the group in loose change. Epstein felt this was an insult to the band, and never booked the band with Kelly again.
The Aintree was demolished in 2007.