Tag Archives: amsterdam

Amsterdam. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Alessandro Nivola, Andrea Riseborough, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Shannon, Mike Myers, Taylor Swift, Timothy Olyphant, Zoe Saldana, Rami Malek, Robert De Niro, Mel Fair, Vaughn Page, Bonnie Hellman, Max Perlich, Jessica Drake, Ed Bagley Jr., Colleen Camp, Gabe Doppelt, Lauren Shaw, Brandon Davis, Casey Biggs, Dey Young, Sean Avery, Gigi Bermingham, Andre Tardieu, Casey Graf, Rebecca Wisocky, Daniel Riordan.

Amsterdam. Film Review. full post

(563 words, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)

Amsterdam, Gig Review. The Flapper, Birmingham.

Ian Prowse of Amsterdam. The Flapper, Birmingham. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Sometimes you have to go back to where it began to understand why you are where you are now. Sometimes the journey can be a little painful; it can be exciting and almost certainly overwhelming. For Ian Prowse and the energetic ensemble of musicians that make up the band Amsterdam, coming back to Birmingham after a five year absence proved not only to make the wonderfully vocal crowd’s hearts inside The Flapper grow as fond as a father’s love for his daughter but also showed exactly why lovers of music in Birmingham and Liverpool share a common thread.

Amsterdam, Gig Review. The Flapper, Birmingham. full post

(647 words, 1 image, estimated 2:35 mins reading time)

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Sunday Supplement, An Interview With Mike Neary.

Some moments in life are so wonderfully off kilter and off the cuff that you cannot help but smile at the situation they surround. Tea in hand at the Everyman Theatre, tape recorder ready and a barrage of thoughts on how to talk to a man who has made the art of the interview a joy to behold in modern times, Peter Gabriel’s seminal solo song Games Without Frontiers comes over the building’s P.A. Knowing that Mike Neary is a huge fan of early Genesis and knowing that he is listening to the intelligently written lyrics with the same appreciation and thought that he prides himself upon when listening to any of the major interviews he conducts for Gemma Aldcroft’s and Karen Podesta’s hugely well produced Little Atoms company in St. George’s Hall, puts me at ease. After all it can be a daunting task interviewing somebody who in a media driven society stands aloft and above 99 percent of interviewers concerned.

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Sunday Supplement, An Interview With Mike Neary. full post

(2620 words, estimated 10:29 mins reading time)

Elbow, Gig Review. Paradiso, Amsterdam.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Elbow are not Britain’s hidden treasure anymore. While the band and their albums have always been the critics’ favourite, they never became really famous. Until there was their magnificent, Mercury award-winning The Seldom Seen Kid, which launched the band into stardom: they sang for the B.B.C., wrote the Olympics tune and played into sold-out stadiums. Now they have released another splendid album, The Take off and Landing of Everything, and this is celebrated with a world tour at the biggest venues. The kick-off of this tour, call it a warm-up if you like after a hiatus of fourteen months, however, starts at a very small and venue: Paradiso in Amsterdam.

Elbow, Gig Review. Paradiso, Amsterdam. full post

(397 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Amsterdam, Gig Review. Liverpool Calling, St. Luke’s Church.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

There is something about the majesty; the feel of the past and what the Bombed Out Church of St. Luke’s stands for that just makes it a great place to watch live outdoor music. The gothic look, the refusal of a city to bend its knee towards oppressors, doubters and the shameful is all around the city and the life blood in its people. No more so than Ian Prowse and Amsterdam and as the band come on stage as part of Liverpool Calling, the sound, the joy and defiance from the audience gets notably louder. If ever there was a man who can get a crowd thumping the air whilst placing one hand over their chest in remembrance of the fallen then Ian Prowse is the man and Amsterdam are quite rightly the band of the day.

Amsterdam, Gig Review. Liverpool Calling, St. Luke’s Church. full post

(451 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Only Child To Perform At The Zanzibar Club On January 19th.

One of the great Liverpool singer-songwriters of recent years, Alan O’ Hare and his band Only Child will be performing at The Zanzibar Club on Seel Street on Saturday 19^thJanuary as they open their music 2013 account as part of Liverpool’s Songbook Sessions.

Only Child released a self-titled E.P. late last year and launched it with a well-received gig at Leaf on Bold Street. Support slots with Miles Hunt, Amsterdam and Steve Pilgrim followed and the band are looking forward to opening their 2013 account with a slot at ‘The Songbook Sessions’.

Only Child To Perform At The Zanzibar Club On January 19th. full post

(232 words, 1 image, estimated 56 secs reading time)

Amsterdam, The Liverpool Working Class Festival. Gig Review. The Picket, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 15th 2009.

Self confessed Liverpool boy Ian Prowse, and his band Amsterdam took to the stage at the Picket to great applause from an audience made up of local people and the odd delegate from the T.U.C Conference.

The great thing about Ian is that you know before he even opens his mouth to belt out much loved scorn or words that will make you think for a while, that he will give it all he has got and then dig deep in his reserves and give you another blast of his own version of fire and brimstone.

Amsterdam, The Liverpool Working Class Festival. Gig Review. The Picket, Liverpool. full post

(353 words, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)

Amsterdam, Gig Review. Liverpool Academy.

Johnny Barlow, part of the Amsterdam line up. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Originally published by L.S. Media. March 22nd 2010.

They have been missing off the local scene for a while but Saturday night marked the glorious return of local boy Ian Prowse and the magnificent Amsterdam. One of the last times they came “home” was for the wonderful night of music at the Picket last year. Now, armed with a few new tracks ready to play and some old favourites to thrill the audience with, Ian, Johnny Barlow, violinist Anna Jenkins and the rest of this exceptional band set their agenda early with Joe’s Kiss and Hey Hilary before going into the wonderful Coming up for Air/ Nothing’s Goin’ Right.

Amsterdam, Gig Review. Liverpool Academy. full post

(409 words, 1 image, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Amsterdam, Gig Review. Stanley Theatre, University of Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. October 24th 2010.

Amsterdam may have been quiet on the recording front this year and only playing a select number of live dates, a critically acknowledged tour alongside The Wonderstuff and a sell-out evening at the Liverpool Academy amongst them, however when they have performed, the music is the same high quality, full of frustration, anger at the way of the world and beautifully, unarguably sentimental.

Amsterdam, Gig Review. Stanley Theatre, University of Liverpool. full post

(322 words, estimated 1:17 mins reading time)

Amsterdam, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. March 7th 2011.

Once Ian Prowse gets going there is very little that anyone can do to stop him, he has proved it time and time again with his band Amsterdam and before this as member of the now legendary Liverpool band Pele. In 1992, Pele released their debut album Fireworks. A generation has come and gone without hearing this album in full and it was fitting that Ian and Amsterdam gave one of the performances of their career.

Amsterdam, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(397 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)