Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
In the comfortable surroundings of one of the City’s less obvious gig venues, the clamour of evening tea and daily tasked conversation rising just as the summer moon makes it’s appearance in the Liverpool sky, the upstairs at Leaf, always the height of serenity and musical appreciation, became an oasis for memory, contemplation and praise, as Revolver, The Beatles 7th studio album was lauded and acclaimed by the packed out audience and as each song was performed by some of the very great talents in the Liverpool music community, there was undoubtedly, beautifully, magic in the Merseyside air.
There will be those that claim Revolver to be the finest of the Beatles albums, everybody has their own favourite after all, but the style and content on the album certainly paved the way for Sgt. Pepper..,, Abbey Road and The White album to be created, without Revolver it seems that history might have been very much different.
The brainchild of the much admired Roxanne de Bastion and put together with the invaluable help of Graham Holland and Liverpool Acoustic, the celebration of Revolver was born and it was a night done absolute justice by the large crowd and the spirit of community that rang out past the doors of Leaf and shook the hands of the unenlightened as they mingled in smoky haze and the pound of music that will be fortunate to be remembered in a decade from the clubs that surround Bold Street.
To have a pivotal album such as Revolver remembered and played by musicians such as Eleanor Nelly, Thom Morecroft, The Southbound Attic Band with Derek King, Joe Symes & The Loving Kind, Fabia, Alan O’ Hare and She Drew The Gun, as well as Ms. de Bastion herself and her father Richard who had flown in from Berlin for the event, was a moment to feel privileged, to feel just how extraordinary music can make you feel, whether alone at home as the day ends or and most preferably, in the company of many others who get the experience as much as you do and to whom each drop of guitar is like velvet on the skin.
Played out from start to finish, all 14 tracks were given the respect they were due, 50 after all is a grand age to reach and when you are still so vital to the memory of the nation, it is something that deserves the many thanks and good wishes it would garner.
With a stirring version of Tax Man performed by Roxanne de Bastion and the sweet tones of Thom Morecroft, She Drew The Gun’s explosive version of Tomorrow Never Knows and songs such as Good Day Sunshine, Here, There and Everywhere and the lonely beauty of Eleanor Rigby all grabbing the heart, this was a not a typical birthday party, this was a feast of music that crossed time and brought back into sharp focus something we have lost along the way, the ability to remember with collective charm just what music can bring to us when in the company of others and not just as an excuse to be seen out at the so called big nights out.
Many congratulations to all involved, especially Roxanne de Bastion and Graham Holland, a night where music in Liverpool was unquestionably king.
Ian D. Hall