Tag Archives: Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall

Rumours of Fleetwood Mac, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2018).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Imitation, so they demand, is the greatest form of flattery, yet as the Philharmonic Hall resounded to the songs of one of the greatest groups, the most dynamic, and arguably one of the most beautifully headstrong and verging on the forever self destructible, Fleetwood Mac, the sense of proportion given to the tired old clichéd phrase, was to be scorned, was to be left alone in a corner where all clichés must finally rest and disappear when in the face of the overwhelming evidence before the crowd’s eyes, that this was not imitation, this was not an impression of glory, this was genuine, heartfelt and authentic in every way possible, this was no idle gossip masquerading as truth, this was Rumours of Fleetwood Mac in their home town being simply awesome.

Rumours of Fleetwood Mac, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2018). full post

(515 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

Yes, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2018).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Yes at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool. March 2018. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

It is the longevity of certain bands that inhabit the Progressive Rock genre that makes the prospect of certain anniversaries a moment to salivate, and whilst nothing can last forever, that at some point the world has to give way to the next generation, that age rather than the dullness of the senses is what comes for us all.

Yes, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2018). full post

(527 words, 1 image, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)

Go West And Nik Kershaw, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2018).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

If you can remember the 80s with a glorious smile and the passion of a beating heart rampaging through single after single of dominating pop and the explosion of culture that surrounded it, then you are one of that rare breed that wasn’t hemmed in and surrounded completely by the post-war early boom of rock and roll and neither were you fooled by the arrival of the almost far too beautiful but in some eyes sulky, almost akin to drama filled, 90s that followed.

Go West And Nik Kershaw, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2018). full post

(597 words, estimated 2:23 mins reading time)

Cutting Crew, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Time changes almost everything, fashion is lauded and then debunked in the blink of an eye, ideologies are stamped upon, new regimes of popularity take the clothes off the previous holders of the once admired and trend setting and claim that they thought of it first; time changes everything but the respect due to a band to whom can hold an audience’s attention and give them the insight into what made their music impossibly beautiful.

Cutting Crew, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

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

Paul Carrack, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2018).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Paul Carrack at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, February 2018. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Unless you are part of the esteemed Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, you don’t see that many musicians performing a two night stand at the prestigious venue; it isn’t that it is not the done thing, it just happens that way, performers take to the stage, they give the audience the respect they are due and the harmony of expression and hopeful love, then they move onto the next town, perhaps only stopping to take a look at the city in daylight hours, rekindling a memory of their own before the bus and their equipment drives on.

Paul Carrack, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2018). full post

(543 words, 1 image, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)

Grainne Duffy, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

When you witness a musician completely stun an audience with an awe-inspiring, almost transcendent, reading of an Etta James classic, then you know you are in the presence of someone who, if Time decrees, will take the hearts and minds of crowds to come that they might never have thought possible. That in this otherwise night of a sort of second homecoming for the main event of Sheffield’s Paul Carrack to a favourite venue in a city he obviously loves, that Ireland’s Grainne Duffy would come into the lives of the Liverpool audience and simply blow them away with her charm, depth and voice.

Grainne Duffy, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(390 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

The Classic Rock Show, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2018).

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

(470 words, 1 image, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Joe Brown, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2018).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are institutions, there are legends and then if you are lucky enough, if you have the fortune and interest of spirit coursing through your veins, then there are those to whom British music owes not just a debt of thanks, but a rather large cheque that can never be cashed or exchanged. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Take That, Bananarama, Atomic Kitten, Kate Bush, without the likes of Tommy Steele, Billy Fury and Joe Brown leading the way from the very start, arguably the British music scene would have looked an awful lot different.

Joe Brown, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2018). full post

(566 words, estimated 2:16 mins reading time)

Kate Rusby, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Christmas means something different to everybody, whether they celebrate it or not, whether it is in the joy of family, togetherness, being with friends, surrounded by strangers but with a common love in which to bond, or in just the thought of a set of songs that grab their attention and make the time of year more thoughtful, reflective, even for some bearable. Music is what binds all when the first drops of snow hit the ground and the carol singers can be found with lamps in hand, a weapon against the darkness of the northern sky.

Kate Rusby, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

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

Alison Moyet, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

To make the audience focus completely on the drama unfolding before them takes consummate skill, a deftness of spirit, the potency of allure and the mystery, the sense of living through a moment so tangible that it seems all the functions of the human body stop what they are doing and just sit in the honour of the spectacle; to focus so much that you cannot hear a crowd breathe during a song and then applaud like a series of rolling thunderstorms across an empty desert, that is the absolute found.

Alison Moyet, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(456 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)