Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Alan Triggs is a model of calm as he steps on the stage at the Battle of Bands in Bootle’s Community Hub, no beads of sweat massing in numbers upon his lyrical brow, no sign of nerves in his fingers as he plays the guitar; after all this is a man who is seemingly content in his life and his the delivery of his muse; after all why should the man worry when the muse is singing his favourite songs and making him one of the most enjoyed performers in the area.

It is with a sense of pride that the music floats across the old bowling green lawn in front of the stage of the Johnson’s Pavilion, the mixture of noticeable respect from the audience fills the time with an endearing, subtle quality that is both charming and heroic. It is to listen to the player, to sit and listen with attention to the muse as it carries out its task in which separates the joy of appreciation to the boggy mess of the dysfunctional relationship between artist and crowd and Alan Triggs certainly deserves listening to.

The day in which Mr. Triggs found himself nestling within had already been acoustically well received, had lifted the spirits of the crowd no end and made sure that the heavier, more boisterous and electric storm of the bands were bookended by calm measured response; this was certainly true of Alan Triggs as he weaved his own magical pattern between The JJohns and The Peter Dee Band, the sum of all the parts made whole by the playing of this gentleman.

Dancing his fingers with an almost hypnotic style on the eyes of the audience, Alan Triggs performed the songs She’s The One, Under The Cotton Tree, Hey Mister, Fly Away and Algy with an assured poise that one could only look on with green envious eyes; for in his delivery, in his stance lay a musician of valour and each song was heightened because of it.

A wonderful addition to the Johnsons’ Pavilion line up at the Battle of the Bands, Bootle was certainly blessed to have the musician there.

Ian D. Hall