Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The Classic Rock Show, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. February 2018. Photograph used with the permission of David Munn Photography.
There are times in your life, if you have been fortunate to have been bitten by the bug that salivates over the pleasurable moans of a well played guitar and the heartbeat rising when the drum kicks in, the bass and the somehow deep and meaningful lyrics come into play and the recognition that the song reflects not only your mood but your life, it is those times that you know that Classic Rock has got down deep and personal in your life and the song, no matter how much it remains the same, is there to be loved and remembered.
The Classic Rock Show returned to the scene of past triumphs and heartfelt salutes, of air guitar in the aisles from older female fans, to the standard of the heart needing the love from memories of times when all was either abandoned except for the luxurious bridge between chorus and verse or the refrain of victory, when only a song by Queen or the sheer scope of Meat Loaf would do.
Liverpool, as befitting the city of music, has always been on the agenda for The Classic Rock Show and despite the city’s love of the popular hit and socially conscious music, there is no doubting that the show goes down extremely well, that the Philharmonic Hall shudders under the weight of songs brought to the stage by the band and the rise of expectation from the fans, bedecked in suitable T-Shirt attire ranging from Fleetwood Mac To Toto, Kansas, Queen and Dire Straits, as they knew the evening would be one to revel in.
It is perhaps the pull of Rock that makes it the perfect vessel in which to place your memories in, tracks such as Whole Lotta Love, Wishing Well, the anger and passion of Highway To Hell, the perfect Blues of Oh Well, the ultimate Noir in music form of The Doors’ Riders of The Storm, Wings’ Live and Let Die, Rosanna, the mystery and majesty of Hotel California, the subtlety of the solo acoustic slot in Tears In Heaven, the unshakable promise of Bohemian Rhapsody and the dynamic of Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell, all these are the containers in which all which we associate with our fondest drives and dreams, the break ups and the most glorious times, this is the pull of Classic Rock.
A show in which never gets old, in which the Philharmonic Hall screams in enjoyment and in which the audience are given the reason to smile, be thoughtful over and ultimately have the delivered promise of a great night out, once more thrust towards them.
Ian D. Hall