Tag Archives: Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall

Art Garfunkel, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There may have been a time when many whose love of the music of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel may have feared that they would never again hear the voice that drove the New York pair to such great heights, it may have been a well founded fear but strength and purpose are funny bedfellows when adversity strikes. As the Philharmonic Hall audience sat down, the tingling excitement of hearing a legend in their midst and the trepidation of what could be flowing through every panic neuron in the brain, Art Garfunkel silenced even the stoniest of hearts and made love to the air that surrounded the stark bare stage.

Art Garfunkel, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(528 words, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)

The Rails, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Certain traits and particular talents are always handed down through the D.N.A. but it takes lots of hard work on behalf of the receiver of such good fortune to make their talent shine through and seem as effortless as breathing in fresh air.

For Kamila Thompson, the daughter of arguably one of the finest Folk/Rock music writers of the last 50 years, and James Walbourne, collectively known as The Rails, to perform for the Philharmonic Hall crowd ahead of Richard Thompson long anticipated night in Liverpool was one that was shrouded in a type of delicate cool and inspiring vocal delivery.

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

(412 words, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Richard Thompson, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

For many, Richard Thompson is the voice of the bereft and the forgotten, the loud speaker against injustice and arguably the British Folk equivalent of Bruce Springsteen or Bob Dylan. It is easy to see why when he performs in such determined spirit and absolute certainty of belief in front of a Liverpool audience that hung upon every one of his words as if following a gospel sermon and to whom as the night finished with the pulse of a musical manifesto from his long and outstanding career still ringing in the ears, rose as one to give a standing ovation that was clear, concise and rampant with pleasure.

Richard Thompson, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(469 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Rosanne Cash, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Rosanne Cash, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. July 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The sound of a thousand silent pins dropping onto the patterned listed carpet could not have distracted the audience inside the Philharmonic Hall as the sight of time playing one of the cards in which memories are made and connections through history are enhanced.

Even the added sizzle of excitement that was seized upon by the elusive beast that Time runs with could not have wished for more as the Cash family legacy walked on stage inside the Philharmonic Hall and the time played tricks with loving affection on the audience.

Rosanne Cash, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(546 words, 1 image, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)

Sophie Anderson, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Twenty-Four hours is a long time in which to go from one extreme to other in terms of music venues to perform in as a musician. In much the same way that someone who spent a month exploring the depths of life on the ocean floor somewhere in the middle of Atlantic Ocean and is suddenly given to chance to go up as high as possible in aircraft flying over the same site, the perspective is daunting and wonderfully demanding; yet it a challenge that is strived for and achieved because that is what it means to be Human.

Sophie Anderson, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(471 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

The Moody Blues, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2015).

The Moody Blues at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool. June 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool sound and Vision Rating 9/10

For 51 years The Moody Blues have given their audiences, no matter where in the world, the night of their lives over and over again and judging by the style, the warmth and the outpouring of genuine affection between capacity crowd and the band, that reign of musical beauty really never seems likely to end.

The Moody Blues, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2015). full post

(459 words, 1 image, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

Suzanne Vega, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Buildings retain their memories, or so the theory of some would have you believe, yet stretch the idea to a sporting venue or a music hall and somehow the presumption of ideas seeping into the walls and being held and aiding those following is not so daft.

Memory is after all what makes lyrics come alive, what makes a song tick with the resonance of a heartbeat and the story behind those combinations seem fruitful and soul affirming. For New York raised Suzanne Vega, memory is what makes her own stories come alive, that dip into a musician’s soul which captures elements of life and which gives meaning to others as they go through their own quiet path of life.

Suzanne Vega, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

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

Ben Montague, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It’s not the first time that Liverpool has given musical shelter to Ben Montague in his short but very obviously interesting and successful career so far but it will arguably go down as the performance in which he was more relaxed and at ease with himself and full of self deprecating humour than any other. It was a sight and aural sensation in which those who made their way to the Philharmonic Hall early enough ahead of Suzanne Vega’s first visit to Liverpool in eight years took very much to their hearts.

Ben Montague, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

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

Elvis Costello, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Elvis Costello at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool. June 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The standing ovation that lasted longer than any political leaders conference speech resonated past the doors and onto the surrounding pavements of Hope, Hardman and Leece Street and continued as Elvis Costello’s audience drained of strength but not of will and faith and heartened by resolution and revolution, made their way out of the Philharmonic Hall and began to reflect on what had transpired in the course of over two outstanding hours of music.

Elvis Costello, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(512 words, 1 image, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Holly Johnson, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Holly Johnson at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. June 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

As part of the resurgent Liverpool sound of the 1980s, a sound that seemed a world away from the one that had been the household name in music appreciation by the previous generation up and down the country, Holly Johnson’s name is still revered by many in the city. Despite the feeling of apprehension, the touch of anxiety that emanated from both sides of the stage, what followed was quite possibly the sensation of a huge thrill being administered to the Philharmonic audience as the former Frankie Goes to Hollywood lead vocalist delivered a polished and impressionable set.

Holly Johnson, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(569 words, 1 image, estimated 2:17 mins reading time)