Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The personification of cool is no matter the set may throw at you or the surprise lurking in the undergrowth, you take it head on, slap the sillyness that it threatens to bring and then just carry on playing as if nothing happened.

To watch Ade Jackson on stage is to feel as though you as a listener of music have a song writer and performer fully on your side. It is the equivalent of finding out that a submarine is applying for the job as both your bouncer and musical guide, for nothing seems to phase this gentle giant and the music he performed with diligence and respect at the Kazimier Garden for Liverpool Acoustic was one that was beefy, strong and upheld all the principles of entertaining a loyal and enthralled crowd.

The first half of the four hour music extravaganza hosted by Liverpool Acoustic had already been one in which the songs had taken on an extra meaning, a definition against the background of ever encroaching corporation skylines and the gentle fist of fury raging against the dying of the summer’s light.

For Ade Jackson all that remained was to keep the tight ship on course and to add his own personal flavour to the proceedings and in songs such as My Crazy Lover, Gone Beyond, Past Lives, the excellent Catherine Street and Crystal Jane, the stage was filled with expression, beautifully placed anger and a raging torrent of belief that was impossible to ignore.

It is in the face of adversity, a moment’s pause as something at the very start of any emotional artistic journey threatens to overshadow a day, that a performer becomes a mountain, impenetrable, cool, unruffled and utterly enjoyable. In Ade Jackson a heroic raise of the eyebrows, a collection of songs ready to grip the souls of an audience cheering him on and the steadfast refusal to bow to the elements made this particular set inside the serenity of the Kazimier one to really give a thunderous cheer to.

Ian D. Hall