Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
There is always the novel approach, the unexpected gig to hit the Liverpool streets or the venue in which the audience turn up for a different kind of theatrical experience, the play may well be the thing but it is music after all in which captures the conscious of the audience and there are very few people like one of the Merseyside area’s favourite sons, John O’ Connell, in which to liberate the expanse of music on stage and to give a genuine feeling of love to the classical side of guitar performance.
Performing ahead of the play Ball of Fire at the Epstein Theatre, John O’ Connell took the crowd through a series of acoustic instrumental songs that made the heart sing with a sense of joy and determination, that laid feelings bare and moved the soul to an unexpected place; it was a place of calm, of measured tranquillity and the memory of a time before the music became large, frantic and beautifully restless.
It might have seemed strange to have had the composure of a highly enjoyable and articulate musician on stage before a play about football, about one of Everton’s most revered players but it was one that worked exceedingly well and to anyone who has caught Mr. O’ Connell perform over the many years, it is a time in which to savour every emotional drop of skill that comes out of the man’s body, the unruffled peace hiding a tornado in plain sight.
With instrumental tracks such as Greensleeves, Scarborough Fair, Classical Gas, Love Story and the delight in the influential Dire Straits’ song Why Worry? all giving off a gentle, succulent musical aroma before the play, this was a moment in time not to be seen as support but as a harvest, a bounty in which it was an honour to be afforded time to reflect in.
John O’ Connell never disappoints, it is in his nature as human being and a musician of the highest order and as each instrumental piece took hold of the surrounding crowd, you could hear hearts melt; a moment of reflection made simple, beautiful and serene.
Ian D. Hall