The Last Arcade, a Liverpool band formed during the Covid lockdown in 2020, has released an AI-generated music video for their debut single "When We Were Young" that vividly recreates long-lost landmarks from the city's 1980s heyday. The video, marking the track's fifth anniversary, features nostalgic visits to places such as City Pets, Bits and Bytes, and Pleasure Island, triggering an outpouring of memories from viewers.
Band Members and Inspiration
The trio comprises singer Steve McNally, 48, from Walton; guitarist Paul Garrett, 48, from West Derby; and synth/keyboardist Steve Erickson, 50, from Anfield. Erickson, who has worked with OMD frontman Andy McCluskey, said the project was born from their shared childhood experiences. "We've all got absolutely amazing childhood memories from the 80s. We were kids who used to go into town and see all these places, and they're all gone now," he told the ECHO. "Any kid of our generation went to City Pets to see the piranha. Everyone remembers it. Then there was Pleasure Island. Going there as a kid was absolutely amazing. So we thought, wouldn’t it be great if we could visit all those places again on one last bike ride?"
AI Recreation and Challenges
The six-week project used AI software to create younger versions of the band members and reconstruct locations from old photographs, memories, and archive footage. One of the biggest challenges was recreating Pleasure Island, an indoor theme park at the Festival Gardens on Otterspool Promenade. "We really wanted to include Pleasure Island because it was such a massive place for us. It was one thing showing the outside, but we wanted to show the inside too. We found old fuzzy VHS camcorder footage online and photographs, and slowly rebuilt it piece by piece," Erickson explained. Other locations include Lime Street Station, City Software, and Bits and Bytes in Central Station—the latter had to be rebuilt entirely from memory as no photographs could be found online.
Song's Evolution and Reception
Originally written as a love song, "When We Were Young" evolved into a reflection on childhood friendships and drifting apart. "When you're young, your friends are really important and seem like they're going to be in your life forever. Then suddenly you go to a different school, you get a girlfriend, you go in different directions and you lose touch. We wanted to write something that said, even if I never see you again, I hope everything worked out okay," Erickson said. The video has garnered thousands of views, with viewers sharing memories of places they had not thought about for decades. Erickson noted, "It's a proper trip down memory lane. I think we've included places that people had completely forgotten about. When they see City Pets, they go, 'Oh my God, the piranha!'. It's celebrating these amazing places we used to go to, and hopefully it's given people a bit of nostalgia and brought those memories back."
Liverpool Then and Now
While acknowledging the city's transformation, Erickson expressed optimism about its present: "The city's doing great today. If you go into town now, it's fun, there's music everywhere, it’s lively, and Liverpool ONE has transformed it. But there was a kind of magic to it when we were kids, probably because we were young. It does feel like it’s changed, but it’s changed for the better."
