Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is no doubting Alex Hulme’s panache and confidence for they are well placed, they stand like a grateful beacon of light shining in the distance to ship-wrecked sailors caught in the squall and fast fading of hope. The sound he produces is one that has been honed since first Liverpool Sound and Vision saw him perform in 2011 and his voice could gently tease the most stubborn of raindrops clinging to the outermost part of an oak leaf down and into the palm of his awaiting hand. Surely even at the age of 20 there must be something in which to decry? No, this young man is only going to get better and better and be seen doing what he does for a very long time.

To be included in Threshold 2014 is testament to the extreme hard work he has fostered upon himself in to which make the guitar almost seem moulded to him, like some rather pleasant Terminator who has found that playing music is far more beneficial to the soul than hunting down John Connor, the two don’t seem to be able to be separated.  The Liverpool Acoustic stage in The Baltic Social had had the natural beauty placed up on its wooden heart, it had the creaks drowned out by the expectation of the next Norwegian takeover in the shape of the really fantastic Nora Konstanse and now in the late evening light that bathed the spring day, Alex Hulme gave the stage the air of buoyancy it craved, the ship wrecked sailors being rescued and sailed to shore upon the sturdy act of acoustic rock.

Alex Hulme performed marvellously, meticulously, brandishing a smile, a sense of fun to the occasion and perhaps the only man brave enough to wear socks on stage, forgoing the shoes in a rock version of Sandy Shaw unforgettable entrance to the world of music. His music flowed like a well ordered camel train winding its way through the desert and his confidence grew then so the songs took on a life of their own. Climb, his latest single, was a great start and by the time he played tracks such as Run Rabbit Run, Fight and Forest, Alex Hulme was in the mood to get down off the stage and give the diners, the drinkers and the Saturday evening go getters a taste of where he naturally comes from and played the well-received song All That I Had.

The evening sunlight had died just a little by the end of his set but all in the audience had been enthused with the delight and charisma of the man before them taking his well-deserved bow.

A fantastic addition to Threshold 2014.

Ian D. Hall