Category Archives: Live

The Musical Box, Gig Review (2018). Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

People quite often think of silence as being damning, of largely falling into the zone of negativity and condemning, the muzzled contempt biting at the tongue and willing to spread the seed of discontent and slander when your back is finally turned. Too often silence is greeted with the look of lack of enthusiasm, and yet silence for a short while is the epitome of awe, the reflected understanding of what can pass for sheer majesty, the shock of beauty, the reverence of joy, silence is esteem.

The Musical Box, Gig Review (2018). Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(579 words, estimated 2:19 mins reading time)

Dan Owen, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

A headliner’s duty is to make his presence felt, to set the seal on authority, and for Dan Owen the presence is so powerful that when a howling, brooding harmonica punches the audience with immediacy into Willy Dixon’s Little Red Rooster. It is evident to all those upstairs in Leaf that this sand-toned guitar and pounding stomp box have seen their fair share of theatres, blues bars and gig venues across Europe. One thing is for certain: Dan Owen is a truly relentless performer with a roots-shattering vocal that would make Gregg Allman blush.

Dan Owen, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. full post

(384 words, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

O.M.D. And The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

To keep any art form locked inside its comfortable shell is to consign its soul to eventual oblivion. The masters of the painted value, its subject matter slowly fading under the pressure of light and Time, has to be eventually restored less it becomes invisible and a memory to others who would out on the flavour of the day, the poet seeks a fresher audience, a new way of delivery, the modern theatre audience wishes for nothing more than the view of the modern day in the classic; so too should music be constantly allowed to evolve, to hear a song of the listener’s youth be usurped in resolute re-evaluation keeps the songs fresh and beautiful.

O.M.D. And The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(497 words, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

Harry Miller, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

No performer should be afraid to lose themselves in the beauty of the epic; what is good for the unknown poet who scribed the tale of Beowulf, for the symphony of expression that encompasses Progressive Rock, is more than an illusion for us all, we can all claim to partake one way or another in the pursuit of the grand scale of song, of the art, few though readily rummage deep in the hearts to make it happen; no matter the subject, no matter the detail or the genre, the epic is a virtue which is lofty and sincere.

Harry Miller, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. full post

(352 words, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

Eli Smart, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The ambience, the fizz of bohemian cool never changes inside the upstairs chamber at Leaf, and for that audiences should forever feel grateful, for there is something special about the venue, a sense of tangible distinction which radiates from out of the woodwork, from behind the carefully styled curtains and ideally decorated style that magnifies itself in the musician or act on stage. In that moment a truth opens up before the audience who sit or stand and congratulate with rightful passion and encouragement, that this is how all artists should be treated, with honour, and not with the taste of Saturday night innuendo thrown about like loose confetti at a fourth attempt of marriage.

Eli Smart, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. full post

(417 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

The Goldhawks, Quadrophenia Live!. Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are few albums that emphasise and capture a moment in British history as well as The Who’s Quadrophenia, a work not just of outstanding cultural reference but a recording that simply blows others in its class away, outstanding lyrics, music that causes the brain to absorb the depths of imagery, and one that just feels every moment of angst for a generation betrayed by growing up in the shadow of the aftermath of World War Two. Of freedom of expression, but not knowing how to harness it enough to overthrow the shackles of post war hypocrisy completely; in short they don’t make them like The Who anymore, and they don’t make albums as raw, as telling, as beautiful as Quadrophenia.

The Goldhawks, Quadrophenia Live!. Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(426 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

The Analogues, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Imagine being at Candlestick Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants, in late August 1966, or around two and half years later, on January 30th 1969, at ground level in Central London, looking up to the heavens and hearing the now unfamiliar live sound of four men from Liverpool. Imagine understanding that both these two events were so significant in the annals of music history, not only for the band, but for the wider implication of what went on between the two dates and what would follow; it would almost certainly be the stuff of legends, a screaming mob of fans who paid between four and six Dollars to attend the final throws of infant pop, and the almost quiet drawing on a London street of the curtain on the first part of legendary status confirmed for ever.

The Analogues, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(685 words, estimated 2:44 mins reading time)

Brothers Of Mine, Gig Review. Constellations, Liverpool. Shout About It Live.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

You cannot choose family, it is a readymade solution to helping you in sour times, it is the possible agony to be expected when life takes the sad or unexpected turn; family is shrouded in the playful and sometimes the jealous, without it though nature and society become off-balance, you can fall and your sister will pick you up, but quite often there is nothing more helpful at your back than knowing and saying to yourself that the Brothers Of Mine will be watching, ready and waiting for action.

Brothers Of Mine, Gig Review. Constellations, Liverpool. Shout About It Live. full post

(446 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

Satin Beige, Gig Review. Constellations, Liverpool. Shout About It Live.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

In the end it is how you approach life that makes you stand out, despite what the day may throw at you, no matter the events leading up to the moment you take the stage upon; you glare in to the lights, you see the audience’s own hopes and dreams reflected back at you, and you sing and perform as if the world and its consequences don’t matter. For the point is simple, you do everything in your power to sing as if you are bringing the night to an end at Madison Square Garden, that you are saying Goodnight Manhattan.

Satin Beige, Gig Review. Constellations, Liverpool. Shout About It Live. full post

(442 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

The Illegal Eagles, Gig Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is no shame in taking it to the limit, for by admitting your love for the song, the moment in which art fuels one’s very being, it becomes the beauty in the obsession; and even if you only see that fascination come out the shadows on the very odd occasion, the only decent response is to play for all your money is worth, to take that limit and see it go beyond the stars.

The Illegal Eagles, Gig Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(493 words, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)