New Baltic Triangle street trail will test your knowledge of Liverpool’s pop history

Echoes and Waves has been created as part of the city’s Eurovision hosting and it’s in keeping with the contest’s United By Music theme.

A new street art trail has arrived in the Baltic Triangle to celebrate Liverpool’s incredible pop history – and challenge everyone’s music knowledge.

The trail – which features on business shutters and brickwork – is easy to spot because, in among all the brightly coloured street art that the Baltic’s become known for, this is a series of black and white graphics. Each one is a clue to a Liverpool artist who’s helped shape our music scene over the past eight decades.

Supported by Baltic Triangle CIC and the city council, the Echoes and Waves installation has been created by Liverpool creative agency Smiling Wolf.

And, although it’s appeared in time for Eurovision, they hope it will carry on and grow long after the contest has moved on to its next host city.

Fiona Shaw, chair of Baltic Triangle CIC, explains: “The Baltic Triangle is Liverpool’s official EuroZone for Eurovision, so we started talking to the city council about creating something for the area which has a Baltic-style interpretation and the team at Smiling Wolf came up with the concept which celebrates Liverpool’s musical heritage.

“The idea is to have a trail of graphics on shutters and walls which is also a bit of a quiz. Some of the clues are more obvious than others, so it hooks you in with easier ones then there are others that take more thinking about.

“It’s a bit of fun and like doing a cryptic crossword and thinking what am I looking for?

“Because it’s all in black and white it’s really distinctive but it also doesn’t compete with the different styles of street art that are already here, so it has its own identify and leaves other artists plenty of room to do what they do.”

Without giving too much away, the artists hidden in the trail span from the 1950s to the present day so there’s something for all ages and musical tastes.

Fiona says it will add something interesting to the look of the Baltic Triangle, especially after-hours.

“As you come down Jamaica Street, especially in the evening after work, it can be just a lot of shutters which doesn’t tell you that much about Baltic or what goes on here. So we thought that by decorating them it gives them a life after hours when people are wandering around. That’s part of the charm of the Baltic, the things you stumble across as you go around a corner make it very much what it is.

Businesses in the area have already been keen to be a part of the trail and a few, including 92 Degrees, Botanical Garden and Sub Rosa, are also stocking totes with the Echoes and Waves graphics on.

Once they’ve been on the trail, people can also go on the website, here, to find out more about individual the stories behind the artwork.

“Obviously the immediate impact is to make the area look good for Eurovision but it’s something people can come back to, it’s interactive, and hopefully it’ll have a legacy afterwards too if people take it to their hearts,” adds Fiona. 

For all the latest what’s on around the Baltic Triangle and across the city click here.