THEIR lives were intertwined with the rise of The Beatles and now the two famous figures have returned to Liverpool to meet fans and talk about life with a legend.

Photographer Astrid Kirchherr, who captured iconic images of the fledgling band in their Hamburg days and was the fiancée of original member Stuart Sutcliffe, and artist Klaus Voorman made appearances at the Hard Days Night hotel over the weekend.

Voorman is best known to Beatles fans as the man responsible for designing the cover of the Revolver album, a friend and confidante of the Fab Four whose musical and artistic abilities have firmly ensconced him in pop history.

A former member of Manfred Mann and the Plastic Ono Band, he has featured on solo albums by every Beatle except Sir Paul McCartney.

He met the Beatles in their breakthrough days in Hamburg, and first came to Liverpool following the death of close friend Stuart Sutcliffe.

The Beatles’ nostalgia scene isn’t usually his style, he will admit.

It is only his second visit to the Mathew Street Festival.

He prefers to visit the city on his own terms.

The iconic, garish images of the Sgt Pepper or Moptop eras that are inescapable in our surroundings, mean little to a man who knew the band so up close and personally.

But what he can do is use the platform to promote his latest project, which he knows will appeal to Beatles’ fans as much as he would like to present it to them.

On Saturday, he met fans at the Hard Days Night Hotel in North John Street in the city centre and yesterday he presented a video session and talk about his box set project, A Sideman’s Journey, at the Adelphi.