Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

You can’t keep a musical secret for long in Liverpool. Eventually somebody somewhere will pipe up and say that this band are just amazing, fantastic, unreal or sometimes but thankfully rarely don’t bother they haven’t got a clue. It is the very nature of the city that its long antennae, its fingers ever ready to feel for a new pulse to keep the lifeblood of Liverpool fresh and exciting will come across an act that has been squirreling in a basement venue and thrust them out into the open for its citizens to marvel over.

In the case of The Shadow Theatre, they have been honing their act so well and so quickly that the performance they gave as part of Liverpool Calling at The Bombed Out Church was just another step, another moment in which the next generation of musicians to come from the home of music came of age.

On the back of their single release, Ghosts, in February, The Shadow Theatre have plugged away at various venues, the hard work coming together in this performance for the lads from the heart of Maghull and Huyton. The fans, which have been increasing slowly and surely, already knew what to expect and as the afternoon wore on in St. Luke’s, so would everybody else.

This was a set by a band that is hungry, lean and towering, each song given a burst of vocal enthusiasm by Andrew Gorge, a snap of great lead guitar by James Dalziel and bass which a graceful gazelle would have given great nods of approval to in Mark Manning. With recent addition Shaun Parker from The Wirral making only his second appearance in the team, the music is on great form.

By the end of their set, which included the tracks In This Room, Violent Whispers, the Aforementioned Ghosts and Follow The Lights, there surely would have been no-one who doubted the special bond between The Shadow Theatre and the music. Yet another generation of musicians has made Liverpool and the surroundings areas proud because they don’t give in, they don’t take the easy route and moan about their lot in the world, they get on with it and perfect their music. For The Shadow Theatre, they can be sure that at their next gig, they will have a lot more friends in the audience.

Ian D. Hall