they were. The Beatles—then consisting of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Best—were due to perform a lunchtime concert in The Cavern Club on 9 November 1961, as part of a residency, for £3, 15 shillings a concert. According to Sytner, Epstein had visited the club quite a few times previously on Saturday nights, once asking Sytner to book a group for his twenty-first birthday party. Epstein asked Harry to arrange for Epstein and his assistant, Alistair Taylor, to watch the Beatles perform, so Epstein and Taylor were allowed into the club without queuing, with a welcome message being announced over the club's public-address system by Wooler, the resident DJ. Epstein later talked about the performance: After the performance, Epstein and Taylor went into the dressing room, which he later called "as big as a broom cupboard", to talk to them. The Beatles, who were all regular NEMS customers, immediately recognised Epstein, but before Epstein could congratulate them on their performance, Harrison said, "And what brings Mr. Epstein here?" Epstein replied with, "We just popped in to say hello. I enjoyed your performance". He introduced Taylor, who merely nodded a greeting, and then said, "Well done, then, Goodbye," and left. Epstein and Taylor went to Peacock's restaurant in Hackins Hey for lunch, and during the meal Epstein asked Taylor what he thought about the group. Taylor replied that he honestly thought they were "absolutely awful", but there was something "remarkable" about them. Epstein waited a long time before saying anything further, eventually saying, "I think they're tremendous!" Later, when Epstein was paying the bill, he grabbed Taylor's arm and said, "Do you think I should manage them?" The Beatles were scheduled to play at the club over the next three weeks, and Epstein was always there to watch them. Epstein contacted Allan Williams (their previous promoter/manager), to confirm that Williams no longer had any ties to them, but Williams advised Epstein "not to touch them with a fucking barge pole [to stay away]", because of a concert percentage the group had refused to pay him while playing in Hamburg. Epstein later signed singer Cilla Black, who had been working as a hat-check girl in the club. The Beatles were recorded playing live at the club on 22 August 1962, by Granada Television, and their producer at EMI, George Martin, later thought of recording them live there, calling the projected album Off The