Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Garry Christian at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. October 201Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Charm, style, grace on stage and all the attributes of a gentleman; it is perhaps hard to see The Christians in any other light, especially in front of a home town crowd, and with the bonus of celebrating 30 years of history placed before an attentive, passionate, 80’s driven nostalgic audience. However all those years have produced one of the most interesting and self effacing front of stage men and with a voice that feels like silk and hammers home the message with all the power of Thor’s hammer at his disposal; it is no wonder that The Christians remain one of the most respected bands of their time.

It is in the easy smile, the sly wink of endurance and the throes of talent that The Christians took hold of the baton passed to them by Clare Grogan and Altered Images and ran along the lanes of hits, fan favourites and songs that captured the time and still resonate with dramatic vibrancy in today’s cold climate.

The smile, the gentle demeanour is always evident, but so is the anger when the music gets going and the memories of a period in which Liverpool was demonised by Government, in which the band’s home city was treated nationally with disgraceful barbs and lies, is still there, the smile holds the enemy with contempt and in the opening song of the set, the resentment, the fury of Forgotten Town still hold fire.

Forgotten Town, the heart of Liverpool never laid down and took the jealousy of the Westminster frowns and disproval with anything but the well ordered sarcasm and fight that the Government deserved and yet to play the song live and do it whilst holding the fire but doing so with style is too understand the deep seated passion that lives in the band; why after 30 years they are still very much one of the groups you go to see and enjoy.

With songs such as Born Again, Greenbank Drive/Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone, Words, Ideal World, the magnificence of Hooverville (And They Promised Us The World) and Harvest For The World in the set, the night was always going to be one of memory, of fire and the smile that holds crowds close; The Christians always promise the world and they always deliver.

Ian D. Hall