Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Spring brings with it the chance to step out of the darkness and into the much valued light, the beauty of the season as flowers emerge, as new ideas take shape with optimism and hope, Spring really is the time when we can look to the heavens and find a sense of order that is always disguised by the cold and the miserable tastes of winter and its cloak of bitter, sinister gloom.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
There is an elegance that just comes naturally with both Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls, a sense of the Midland’s sublime that flows as vibrantly as the River Stour and is forever to be seen in both their acoustic pairing and in the wider circle of The Wonderstuff. They are a pair of musicians that just ooze quality, great stories wrapped in tremendous violin playing and angry yet serenely led guitar that at times it is possible to feel apologetic to anyone who has not come across them.
Michael Bennett at Hope Fest 2015, District, Liverpool. Photograph by Lis Garrett. Photograph used with kind permission by Lis Garrett.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Michael Bennett will always be a star of the Liverpool acoustic scene; that much is surely certain after performing with authority and a sense of the cool that money would never be able to afford and in which only certain people can pull off without ever looking as if they have tumbled out of bed looking like a fashion magazine. Cool is not the sole preserve of the idealistic and fashionable, it is to be found within the strength of character to be exactly who you are and never waver from that commitment; if this is to be held true then Michael Bennett as he plays his guitar with solitude brilliance and a stance of a benevolent knight in shining armour infusing his performance.
Splintered Ukes at Hope Fest 2015. Photograph by Lis Garrett. Photograph used with kind permission by Lis Garrett.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The humble ukulele has enjoyed such a renaissance of late that the New Romantic era, the generation of Punks and the Progressive era must be finding themselves suddenly believing there might be an avenue of opportunity to explore, to take their old hits and musings down off the dusty shelf and turn the world into their domain once more with the aid of the trusty musical instrument.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Most people when they come back from a trip abroad take it easy for a couple of days, the possible jet lag alone enough to make the thought of entertaining a vocally enjoyable crowd make some turn their back on the day and lay down in a darkened room. Not for Kevin Critchley though, if there is such a thing as having another wind, then this young man must have stored them up and let them infuse his body to the point of dynamic delivery.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
There is so much good talk about Alex Hulme that it is surprising to find the young man doesn’t go round Liverpool and the further afield towns with a permanently embarrassed demeanour. The compliments keep coming, the platitudes deserved and well served with grace and refined considered opinion and above all, none of it goes to his head, not a single piece makes him to be arrogant or supposing and that marks Alex Hulme out to be a genuine and well thought of performer.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9.5/10
Where ever you were on Sunday 20th September at a certain point in time it’s very doubtful you were being treated to a possible golden future for Rock in the same way that the crowd at District were being shown. Visions can come, dreams of greatness may go but somehow something every so often comes around and marks itself out as being so tantalising, so big, that a stage might not dare be able to hold it for long.
Sophie Anderson on stage at Distrct, Liverpool for Hope Fest 2015. Photograph by Lis Garrett. Photograph used with kind permission by Lis Garrett.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The Philharmonic Hall may have had 2,000 souls looking on in praise and devotion in July when Sophie Anderson took to the stage in support to Rosanne Cash, however the voice that haunts and cuts through any atmosphere with its sheer deep resonance is equally at home when performing to a vocal and happy crowd at District as part of the Hope Fest weekend.
Tommy Scott at District for Hope Fest 2015. Photograph by Lis Garrett. Photograph used with kind permission by Lis Garrett.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9.5/10
First night endings are normally off the scale as performers set, perhaps unconsciously, a bar for the weekend to attain and beat. For Tommy Scott at District, deep within the creative belt of the city’s pulsating heart, the applause, the sheer scale of intimacy that the venue bestows and the startling set made sure which ever artist performs at this year’s Hope Fest has a big wall to climb just to even equal this performance.
Jimmy And The Revolvers at District for Hope Fest 2015. Photograph by Lis Garrett. Photograph used with kind permission by Lis Garrett.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
There is so much in the heart of Liverpool’s ever growing abundant talent list that for many the thought of never leaving the city, never departing from the sound that comes so naturally to the heartbeat by the Mersey, is one that may be tempting. Of course that would deprive the listener of so much enjoyment from elsewhere, however listening to Jimmy and the Revolvers, it can be seen why that temptation would be whisper sweetly and the sense of lingering musical perfume would entice even the strongest and resistant of hearts into being lured in to the thought.