Monthly Archives: August 2012

Joe Bonamassa, Gig Review. Echo Arena, Liverpool.

Joe Bonamassa at the Echo Arena, Liverpool. Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Originally published by L.S. Media. March 29th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

Somebody reminded Joe Bonamassa during his visit to Liverpool that the first time he played near the city, in the excellent venue that was just a well-aimed cannon ball shot across the Mersey to Pacific Road in Birkenhead. In that seemingly short time, Joe has gone onto be one of the greatest guitarists in the world. Technically stunning and with no short comings at all, not musically or as decent human being it seems either.

Joe Bonamassa, Gig Review. Echo Arena, Liverpool. full post

(417 words, 1 image, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

Angel Delight, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media . April 30th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Eithne Browne, Chris Darwin, Francis Tucker, and the voices of Kathy Upfold and Roger Phillips.

What do you if your husband or wife starts acting strangely, their whole demeanour and actions change so much so that you hardly recognise him. Gone is the dependable boring man you have known since before the children came along and in comes someone that all of a sudden smartens himself up and is being chased by his secretary. In this premise lays the beauty of Angel Delight.

Angel Delight, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(512 words, 1 image, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Adrienne Rich, American Poet and Feminist Writer, dies aged 82.

Originally published by L.S. Media. March 30th 2012.

The worlds of poetry and feminist writing were in mourning this week as the news broke that that one of the finest and most deeply interesting poets of her generation, Adrienne Cecile Rich, had passed on at the age of 82.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland on May 16th 1929, the American poet and essayist became one of the most widely read and influential poets of the 20th century and was credited with bringing “the oppression of women and lesbians to the forefront of poetic discourse.”

Adrienne Rich, American Poet and Feminist Writer, dies aged 82. full post

(525 words, 1 image, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)

She-Wolves, England’s Early Queens. Television Programme Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. March 30th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Written and presented by Dr. Helen Castor, a fellow of Sidney College, Cambridge University, She-Wolves was a three part series for the B.B.C. which looked at the lives of seven women who dominated early Medieval and Tudor England and drew the comparisons between them all, that as women they were viewed with suspicion and labelled She –Wolves by their detractors.

As Great Britain celebrates prepares to celebrate 60 years of reign by Queen Elizabeth II, Dr. Helen Castor looks back at the lives of Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, Margaret of Anjou, Lady Jane Grey, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I.

She-Wolves, England’s Early Queens. Television Programme Review. full post

(439 words, 1 image, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson, Thick As A Brick 2. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. April 5th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

There will be those that tell you that the concept album died a painless death during the 1970’s, there will further still those that maintain there was a brief hurrah in the mid 1980’s, and without wishing to compound the issue, there will be the modern audience’s assertion that the 21st century has seen the genre stay vital, drawing breath and propagating and influencing others from Green Day and My Chemical Romance.

Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson, Thick As A Brick 2. Album Review. full post

(589 words, 1 image, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

Jim Marshall, “father of loud”, Dies aged 88.

Originally published by L.S. Media. April 7th 2012.

He probably never picked up a guitar in anger in his life, yet without the signature Marshall Amp, music wouldn’t be as loud or as refined as it is today.

It was with great sadness that drew the Rock fraternity together this week as the iconic and legendary amplifier maker Jim Marshall, “the father of loud” passed away at the age of 88.

Born James Charles Marshall in 1923 in Acton, Marshall was more than just a businessman, he was a pioneer of the guitar amplification and his product, a labour of love, was used by such musicians as Jimi Hendrix, Slash, Lemmy, Joe Bonamassa and Nikki Sixx.

Jim Marshall, “father of loud”, Dies aged 88. full post

(542 words, 1 image, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)

The Sums, Gig Review. Zanibar Club, Seel Street, Liverpool.

Peter Deary, Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Originally published by L.S. Media. April 8th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

There are fewer finer sights than to see a man in full flight on a stage at the Zanzibar. Peter ‘Digsy’ Deary may appear understated but the man is a legend in Liverpool, a man who, like a few others from the area, commands respect and when he doesn’t get it, it not only rankles him, but the band and his legion of fans as well.

The Sums, Gig Review. Zanibar Club, Seel Street, Liverpool. full post

(408 words, 1 image, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Does This Train Stop on Merseyside? The Very Best Of Ian Prowse. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. April 8th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

You only have to listen to the first track on The Very Best of Ian Prowse to know that not only is this an album of distinction and that if you cut him open, from every open pore and scratched surface would run the Mersey River, the biggest and most truthful aspect of the album is that it is Liverpool.

Does This Train Stop on Merseyside? The Very Best Of Ian Prowse. Album Review. full post

(521 words, 1 image, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

Titanic, Episode Three. Television Review.

Jenna-Louise Coleman. Picture from Unreality T.V.

Originally published by L.S. Media. April 8th 2012.

L.S Media Rating ***

Cast: Stephen Campbell-Moore, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Celia Imrie, Toby Jones, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Lyndsey Marshal, Stephen Waddington, Sophie Winkleman, James Wilby, Lee Ross, Linus Roache, Geraldine Somerville, Dragos Bucar.

With the final episode of Titanic looming and drawing ever closer to the fateful moment where the death knells of the “unsinkable” ship will forever be remembered, the third episode looks primarily at three of the couples thrown together on board and shows the some of the back story that led them to the moment when the Titanic began to sink.

Titanic, Episode Three. Television Review. full post

(475 words, 1 image, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Counting Crows, Underwater Sunshine (Or What I Did On Our Summer Vacation). Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. April 9th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Perhaps they were after the longest album title of the year, thankfully the new offering from Counting Crows, Underwater Sunshine (Or What I Did On Our Summer Vacation) doesn’t detract from the incredible sound that comes out of the speakers at you. It doesn’t so much as crash out at you at a speed that’s unfathomable, it more meanders, slowly, carefully, sits down at your table, eats a few meals with you and before you know it, you wonder how it managed to hang around and become essential listening.

Counting Crows, Underwater Sunshine (Or What I Did On Our Summer Vacation). Album Review. full post

(363 words, 1 image, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)