Michael Bennett at Hope Fest 2015, District, Liverpool. Photograph by Lis Garrett. Photograph used with kind permission by Lis Garrett.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Michael Bennett will always be a star of the Liverpool acoustic scene; that much is surely certain after performing with authority and a sense of the cool that money would never be able to afford and in which only certain people can pull off without ever looking as if they have tumbled out of bed looking like a fashion magazine. Cool is not the sole preserve of the idealistic and fashionable, it is to be found within the strength of character to be exactly who you are and never waver from that commitment; if this is to be held true then Michael Bennett as he plays his guitar with solitude brilliance and a stance of a benevolent knight in shining armour infusing his performance.

Cool, Michael Bennett captures it every time, he exudes the emotion as he stands on stage time and time again, never wavering, always a joy and as he played for the Hope Fest crowd at District, that sense of calm sanctioned confidence bowled over the District audience and opened up the day’s music to a crowd buoyed the weekend’s musical feast.

The music on offer by Michael Bennett blossomed the thought behind the reason for such an important and well thought of Festival, it should not be an elitist movement that see’s music confined to those whose lives are set in the ways of affordability, of being denied to those that certain members of Government and society are willing to arguably impose on the less fortunate, the forgotten and the dispossessed. Music is there to be heard by all, no matter the circumstance, no matter how it is received and as Mr. Bennett played through his set, that feeling of inclusivity was highlighted and enjoyed.

Songs such as Roll up, This Feeling, Red Jeans, The Skies Above Us and the well crafted beauty of Soundless Plea all made their entrance and exit as if tied to an intelligence that knew no bounds, that with pleasure gave such melody and burning anger room to breathe and be noticed.

Michael Bennett gave the late September afternoon meaning and verve, the dash of spectacle to be held with appreciation and awareness, Michael Bennett typifies cool because he stands aloft from such chasing of ethereal pastimes and supposed treasures and his music, cool becomes real.

Ian D. Hall