The Huyton Minstrel, June 2015, Zanzibar Club, Liverpool. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The Huyton Minstrel looks down from upon the Zanzibar stage, stares into the eyes of anyone who is willing to catch his gaze and then without a moment’s hesitation, delivers the words of an angry, politically charged and unafraid poet right down the throats of the ever increasing mass of population that has made its way into the heart of the city on a dripping sweat and air still day.

For The Huyton Minstrel, Carl Allen, not only is the music and dynamite inducing lyrics such a piece of stage craft, the explosion of performance, the sheer velocity in which the messages come across at are howitzer like. The rapid liberation of once tied down thought is to be applauded and admired and above the noise of another Saturday night in the music capital of Britain, one in which revellers and the dusted down appreciators of such things mix and gel, The Huyton Minstrel took no prisoners.

Sandwiched between Nina Fian and Hegarty, the minstrel who very much embodies the modern age and without the need to bow and scrape to Kings of old, gave the type of show that performance poets across Merseyside would be keen to incorporate into their nights in various cafes and dark secluded alleyways. The gesturing of the voice, the sure footed way he dodged minefields, the observing demonstrative expressions that went with them and the tuneful sound of a guitar knowing its place in the set-up, all combined with the colourful and the demanding, made this such a rich performance that anybody with truth in their soul and the relentless ticking of anger building up in their head would be able to fully immerse themselves in.

With time enough for four songs, Fat Man, Which Planet Are You Living On, Dog Hairs and Sweet Liverpool, the set soon swam by in earnest but not before those taken prisoner along the way cheered at their good fortune to have such a sweet and fully informed jailor.

Sometimes you cannot but help but be swept along with the passion on offer, it is what makes a night memorable. To be in the company of The Huyton Minstrel is one of those particular nights which seep deep into the memory which are ready to be employed when the chips are down and hope seems lost, a memory than can fuel the anger and the spirited fight back.

Ian D. Hall