Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Leanne Robinson’s voice might still be resonating around the confines of Mello Mello for about a week after Sound City packs away its bags and heads off into the sunset with the glowing knowledge of a job well done. Such was the passion in which Ms. Robinson sang; the fever in her voice and the very cool and confident way in which she holds herself made this young woman a great asset to Sound City.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
There is nothing common or ordinary about The Common Tongues. The Brighton band knows how to extend their reach and go beyond the normal boundaries that can be artificially enforced with a studio setting. If a band or artist can sound just as interesting, quirky and simply inspiring live as they can whilst mixers are around, the very machines that produce the sometimes, not always, contrived, then they must be worth checking out and telling people about in the pubs and clubs afterwards.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The Saturday of Liverpool Sound City is traditionally the time to get loose, to enjoy, hopefully, the sunshine and the music that can be found in every size of venue in the city, from the small to the extremely grand, is there to be taken in and take an enormous amount of pleasure in. Nowhere is this taken as seriously as at Mello Mello, a fine venue which has come close to forced closure due to the threat of increased rent but with the help of petitions and the good nature of the music lovers in the area the sounds continue. In Northern Ireland’s Allie Bradley, to all those that signed the petition and made a concerted effort of keeping the venue open, music lovers got their reward.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Such is the lure of Liverpool, its long standing reputation of being a port of call for any musician that wants to play in front of an appreciative audience, one that is open and receptive as long as you are sincere in the love of your craft and not just playing along till something else comes along. Such is that reputation that artists will literary travel thousands of miles just to play a half hour set.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Down the quieter road of Parr Street, Brink had opened its doors as a more sedate setting in which to have live music on during Sound City. The relaxed attitude, the status as a charity run venue all combining to make an evening’s entertainment, especially that utilising the keyboard and the person’s vocal talent, well worth catching. Even with the backdrop of various machines going off every so often, blenders for the smoothies for example, couldn’t detract from those who had waited patiently to see Anna Corcoran perform a selection of songs from her various E.P.s, including the superb The Show which has been getting rave reviews from all quarters of the music world.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
All We Are have been away from the stages and venues of Liverpool for a while and it is fair to say that the audiences have missed this eclectically brilliant band from their schedule of groups to see live. With Leaf having kicked off their weekend of music in the Sound City 2013 with some superb music, some that might be impossible to replicate again it was that good, there are very few groups that could have matched the intensity of what had gone on before but then there are very few bands like All We Are.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
It was always going to take something magical, something just as interesting and musically terrific as the blindingly excellent Natalie McCool, to keep the evening at Leaf in the same rich vein of form that the audience had enjoyed all night. Sound City on its first day had lived up to its billing as being one of the best city festivals the U.K. and in the Leaf venue it had more that surpassed the high expectation thrust upon it. With Natalie McCool having departed the stage after her blistering and sensational set, perhaps it was only fitting that the cool Rachael Wright and The Good Sons took the challenge that lay before them.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Natalie McCool is quite rightly considered one of the finest singer/songwriters in the north-west, either male or female. Her presence on stage is matched by her demeanour, confidence and stunning ability that once you have seen her play live once, you will go back time and time again to relish the sound you have heard. Whether as a solo intimate acoustic set or, as the growing trend seems to be, infront of an audience during Sound City 2013 that crowded the interior of Leaf to bursting point in the slim chance that they can catch a sight of her perform. One of the most talented in the region, more like one of the most eagerly anticipated acts in the country.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
To start off Leaf’s involvement in this year’s Sound City with a band that isn’t that well known from across the Channel could be seen as a calculated risk, one that happily and wonderfully had those rare qualities of a surprise that was both exhilarating and fun to explore for the first time. The group, the very enjoyable Lolito, were not fazed by the looks on the faces of those attending the first band of the evening, the amazing bombshell that took people all of five minutes to get over and by the end of the first song, the smiles said it all.