Denis Parkinson at the Kazimier in Liverpool. August 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Wherever you stand in Liverpool, wherever you care to sit and reflect upon the day and drink in the atmosphere and hum of creativity, it seems that the Liverpool Skyline is changing.

It is perhaps not noticeable from the close up waterfront or from across the beady eyes of the river but inside it, for good or bad, Liverpool is changing, the skyline being bequeathed a different dynamic and yet for a while inside the Kazimier Garden, the skyline didn’t matter, it simply remained still and listened carefully as Denis Parkinson took on his time at the microphone and gave the Liverpool Acoustic Garden songs in which to take pleasure in.

Denis Parkinson’s stunning album that came out earlier in the year, Liverpool Skyline, was more than noticeably running through the minds of the crowd that took a different and more relaxed view to the August Bank Holiday Monday than many others heading for the wide open to elements spaces. They were rewarded with a set of songs that filled the early afternoon with a smile and the rich feeling of truth.

As with the album, catching Mr. Parkinson live is its own particular prize, the depth of mood he stirs, the sense of emotion that breathes as if clambering out of the shell of a dragon’s prized egg for the for the first time and the slight lump to the throat it precedes are there to strike an impression and install belief.

Songs such as Instant Daylight, the fantastically observed Idiot’s Guide To Modern Living, A Life Of Crime, Uncle Joe, King of Worthless Things and the far out The Comet Song all resonated through the bohemian flourishing wildness that is the Kazimier Gardens and took root, the changing Liverpool skyline forgotten for a while, all that mattered was the sense of music faith emanating from the stage.

A generous set and one that fully deserved the huge and faithful applause it received, Denis Parkinson was certainly on very top form; tremendous and musically absorbing.

Ian D. Hall