Tag Archives: Liverpool

Eli Smart, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The ambience, the fizz of bohemian cool never changes inside the upstairs chamber at Leaf, and for that audiences should forever feel grateful, for there is something special about the venue, a sense of tangible distinction which radiates from out of the woodwork, from behind the carefully styled curtains and ideally decorated style that magnifies itself in the musician or act on stage. In that moment a truth opens up before the audience who sit or stand and congratulate with rightful passion and encouragement, that this is how all artists should be treated, with honour, and not with the taste of Saturday night innuendo thrown about like loose confetti at a fourth attempt of marriage.

Eli Smart, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. full post

(417 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

By The Waters Of Liverpool, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Roy Carruthers, Emma Dears, Stephanie Dooley, Lynn Francis, Emily Hughes, Maria Lovelady, Nathan McMullen, Mark Moraghan, Danny O’ Brien, Eric Potts.

If not for the glorious sweep of water, arguably the most beguiling and entrancing river in the whole of England, the city of Liverpool would not be same place, carry the same memories and influence its environment as it has since people first settled in the area; the songs, the stories, the lifeblood of the great city stems, ebbs and flows like a giant’s pulse because of the Mersey, and By The Waters Of Liverpool is where all our lives converge and become clear.

By The Waters Of Liverpool, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(532 words, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)

Beyond Belief, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Adam Davies, Elani Edipidi, Jennifer Essex, Charles Sandford.

It is a dream of many, a fantasy in which the body, the mind, lives on forever. The notion that we can somehow conquer time, that we can endure the ravages of disease, ageing, war and eventual death, and see the future unfold, all the advancements, the hope of peace, the continuing cycle of our offspring with no repercussions, just a state of bliss, the heart endlessly beating, the mind forever wondering.

Beyond Belief, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(429 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

The Goldhawks, Quadrophenia Live!. Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are few albums that emphasise and capture a moment in British history as well as The Who’s Quadrophenia, a work not just of outstanding cultural reference but a recording that simply blows others in its class away, outstanding lyrics, music that causes the brain to absorb the depths of imagery, and one that just feels every moment of angst for a generation betrayed by growing up in the shadow of the aftermath of World War Two. Of freedom of expression, but not knowing how to harness it enough to overthrow the shackles of post war hypocrisy completely; in short they don’t make them like The Who anymore, and they don’t make albums as raw, as telling, as beautiful as Quadrophenia.

The Goldhawks, Quadrophenia Live!. Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(426 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Black ’47, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Hugo Weaving, James Frecheville, Stephen Rae, Freddie Fox, Barry Keoghan, Moe Dunford, Sarah Greene, Jim Broadbent, Ciaran Grace, Colm Seoighe, Olivier Biwer, Kieran Boland, Antonia Cambell-Hughes, Dermot Rowley, Diarmuid de Faoite, Fiach Kunz, Joe Lydon, Geraldine McAlinden, Aiden McCardle, Liam McEvoy, Keith McErlean.

In the best traditions of the revenge film genre, Black ’47 must surely sit as a truly incredible example of writing, not only in terms of its absorbing, harrowing storyline but in the judgement it passes on the nature of greed and neglect for our neighbours, our souls and what they are worth when we can idly sit by as people die in the streets as the hunger and cold eats away at their resolve and their lives.

Black ’47, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

The Lovely Bones, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Pete Ashmore, Charlotte Beaumont, Emily Bevan, Bhawna Bhawsar, Susan Bovell, Natasha Cottriall, Keith Dunphy, Karan Gill, Jack Sandle, Ayoola Smart.

The interpretation of what is a universally enjoyed modern classic to the lights and close-up inspection of the theatre can hinge greatly in the eyes of the audience on just how close it gets to the emotions they would expect to be portrayed, of the damage and the reconciliation they feel is appropriate in the modern world.

The Lovely Bones, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(499 words, estimated 2:0 mins reading time)

Gary Delaney, Comedy Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Strap yourself in and prepare for a ride, for in comedy there really should be as few barriers as possible in the pursuit of making people laugh, an audience of every conceivable demographic enjoying a Saturday night in the company of friends, loved ones and dismissing the dreadfulness of what passing for the beige appeal of weekend television and the over dramatic obliteration of hearing as the latest one-hit wonder blares out across a crowded, bland room.

Gary Delaney, Comedy Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Woke, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The term might be one in which the ears and the brain dismisses as yet another piece of slang bandied about by the young seeking to confuse or irritate those of the generations that have gone before them, a word seemingly pulled out of thin air, a modern catch-phrase which means nothing to those over 30, after all, if you take heed of the advice of those over a certain age, it is only the young that need to wake up, isn’t it?

Woke, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Bouncers, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Mutty Burman, Michael Horsley, Joe Speare, Zain Salim, DJ Spykatcha.

There is a train of thought that there are no new stories to tell in theatre, that the classics, modern, and those written in the depths of time, are the crowning glories of the craft and cannot be improved upon, or at least changed to give a new sense of direction to the audience’s thoughts, to their pleasure and enjoyment, in the way they perceive the characters laid down. ]

Bouncers, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(441 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

The Analogues, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Imagine being at Candlestick Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants, in late August 1966, or around two and half years later, on January 30th 1969, at ground level in Central London, looking up to the heavens and hearing the now unfamiliar live sound of four men from Liverpool. Imagine understanding that both these two events were so significant in the annals of music history, not only for the band, but for the wider implication of what went on between the two dates and what would follow; it would almost certainly be the stuff of legends, a screaming mob of fans who paid between four and six Dollars to attend the final throws of infant pop, and the almost quiet drawing on a London street of the curtain on the first part of legendary status confirmed for ever.

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

(685 words, estimated 2:44 mins reading time)