Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It might be one of the most visited music venues on the planet, not only for the hungry masses enjoying a gig and relaxing as they hopefully take in some expertly played musicianship and stunning lyrics but also for those whose sightseeing just happens to take in the venue, the fifteen minutes of fame as they walk between taking in the glory of Liverpool’s impressive docks and the history that makes the city so vibrant, for them a moment with the back drop of the one of the most iconic walls in the world behind them is an absolute must.

Imagine though having been part of history in a different way, in being able acknowledge a festival which has been going in the city that gave popular music to the world for 15 years, which you were part of from the very beginning and in which the music you play, regardless of whether being part of a band or as a dynamic duo, is lauded and appreciated. It is too history and the part we play in it that makes life so inexhaustibly entertaining.

For Dave Lloyd and Lauren Daly, the applause and the cheers as they progress through their set as part of this year’s International Pop Overthrow was one to behold, the front stage, the smaller one of the two, the one surrounded by so much memorabilia and gravitas, holds special value for all who stand upon it, and even without the barrel load of visitors holding their cameras and smiling for the folks back home, the stage was completely Lloyd and Daly’s and the songs were of mindboggling joy.

The set, which contained the songs Riverside, Starry Design, the superb Time To Burn, which is the wonderful prelude to The Suns new album, Temporary Season, Coming Down, Sad Sunday and Wake Up was one of genuine refinement, of being in close quarters with a songwriter who embraces evolution and to whom the song is the naturally most occurring thing in the universe, and feeling your heart bump so loudly that a team of American tourists could not dislodge it from its excited rhythm.

To see Lloyd and Daly on The Cavern stage is to feel privileged, to feel that time, as elusive as it is, for a while was kind enough to let you savour infatuation. A great set by a great duo and for Dave Lloyd, 15 years after he played at the first I.P.O., a circle wonderfully joined.

Ian D. Hall