Jimmy and the Revolvers, Liverpool Loves Festival 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Liverpool without some certain young bands does not bear thinking about, they are the groups that have not only captured the new wave of the city’s music appreciation, the 21st Century in which The Beatles are still emulated and lauded but to whom also there is no personal attachment to the stories going beyond their grandparents and to whom the past now is a role model and not to be afraid of. They are also the bands that consistently give such great pleasure and the sweat of a new dawn each time they play.
For the likes of Jimmy and the Revolvers, each time they step on stage is like a lover whispering gently into your ears to trust them, they will not let you fall, they will not abandon the faith shown in them and above all the notes played resonate over and over again in the heart as if hearing music played for the first time.
The main stage is Jimmy and the Revolvers happy hunting ground, it is the place where the biggest smile in young Liverpool music somehow takes on extra special meaning and as the Liverpool Loves Festival started to swell, to pull in the more curious and the sun drenched inquisitive down to the Pier Head, images of the past, of the resurgence that has seen the city grow in the last decade met head on and the collision was utterly beautiful.
If this was Jimmy and the Revolvers in their natural habitat that the songs that poured of the stage like nectar enticing the Gods out of hiding, were resilient, worthy and off the scale cool.
Songs were played, the smiles broadened, on and off the stage, and the delicate balance between enjoyment and serious music ability was never breached. Songs such as the opener Lonely, You’re Not Alone, Sunday Morning, Whistle for My Love and the forthcoming and unflappable The Morning Paper were greeted as loudly and with great affection by a crowd that had so much being offered to them as part of the festival but to whom this particular set was perhaps the highlight of their August weekend.
There are many new bands coming out of the shadow of the 20th Century to whom fear is just a word that languishes somewhere in the English Dictionary; for Jimmy and the Revolvers it is a word that doesn’t exist at all and too who respect for the audience and to Liverpool is of far greater value. Outstanding as always, Jimmy and the Revolvers know how to spur on the day.
Ian D. Hall