Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Like many things in the world, music is an art form best enjoyed live and in the raw, not force fed down a multiplex of wires and accessible via a flick of a switch and shown on a screen with directors teasing you into believing that what you are seeing is real. Catching a band live allows a sense of belonging to something a little more than yourself and in Steve Thompson and The Incidents, alongside the millions of other bands plying their trade with a smile and a song that belief is more than real, it is realisation that art in the raw is as good as it gets.

Late afternoon is a strange time to be watching a band but when the weather has been as hot as it has been, with the world in the state it is and with so much going on in the city, catching music at any time of day is to be seized, savoured and stuck into the memory banks for later use. However adding the subtle dynamism of Steve Thompson and The Incidents to the list of bands to see if you make the right choice of making Liverpool a stop-over at some point to enjoy music in its right environment is a pleasure to write, seeing them perform is a moment of indulgence in which to revel.

Steve Thompson, Phil Bernia and Phil Oakes gave a great account of themselves in afternoon of music at Zanzibar. With a slight guttural sound that awoke the primeval urge to tap the foot and join in on lyrics that you may never have beard before, tracks such as Raise Your Head, the excellent barbed lyricism of Tell Cowell We’re On Our Way, the gorgeous feel of Love In The City and the brand new song of Rainbows certainly made sure that the music they performed would stay with those taking part in the latest round of The Hunger Games competition on at the Zanzibar and be talked of for quite a while to come.

Music should never be at the finger of someone with a million cameras at their disposal or a television show in which advertising and a personality rules; playing live and recording your own sound is all. Like many young bands and artist who are prepared to work like their heroes of old did, Steve Thompson and The Incidents have tapped into something rare and cool whilst delivering  a cracking and enjoyable set.

Ian D. Hall