SisteRay at District, Liverpool. September 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is always that question that burns in the mind in the dead of night, when the lingering thoughts of the after gig nap or playful sleep bounding still with muscles twitching and brain whirring with what should be hopeful received pleasure, the query of, “Where have you been all my life” is one that never gets asked of music and musicians, only ever in the greeting of a first seen attraction.

It is a question that no doubt went through the minds of those inside District in the Baltic Creative hub on the outskirts of Liverpool’s town centre as London’s SisteRay came on the stage and proceeded to melt the barrier between north and south with unreserved agility and the wonderful grinding of steely lyrics on edgy and cracking music.

SisteRay had travelled for nine hours to get to play for the crowd enjoying the spectacle inside District as part of the Hope Fest. Nine hours they repeated but they no doubt would have travelled another nine to take in the sight of a crowd enjoying themselves to the point of near maximum burnout and the free flowing spirit and care that Liverpool has for its visiting musicians.

It is into such arenas that friendships and bonds are forged, the heat of performance forgotten when a band looks down onto the dance floor, the pit and the seated spectators and knows that the journey was worth it. As the band played songs such as Relapse, Take It Or Leave It, What’s Your Game? A Wise Man Said, the excellent Monkey House and the killer Anxiety, the appreciation flowed both ways and the thought of having missed a great band during their fledgling beginnings; one filled with slight regret but exhilaration that they had made it to Liverpool to be part of a superb weekend of music.

In a night when District became the vanguard of excellent taste and style, London’s SisteRay more than played their part, they dominated the stage and the ears of those in attendance and gave hope of a mutual respect again between the regal of the true London in its East End and the flourish of a new way of thinking offered by Hope Fest.

Ian D. Hall