Tag Archives: o2 Academy

Heaven 17, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Glenn Gregory providing Temptation at the o2 Academy, Liverpool. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Originally published by Liverpool Live. October 2012.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

For Heaven 17’s remaining members, to come out on tour and perform the whole of their colossal 1983 hit album, The Luxury Gap, must be a double edged sword. One of the biggest, boldest and outstandingly self-confident albums to come out the Steel city for many years, it deserves to be played in its entirety and there would be no dissenters to this fact.

Heaven 17, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(484 words, 1 image, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Hoag’s Object, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

There is fission of excitement that sparkles wildly when a music lover read down a list of bands names that are due to play at a gig they attend that is almost unique in the world of music. From the early 70s when great progressive rock bands of the time thrilled audiences with names that seemed positively futuristic, it seems that a name can carry hope and an awful lot of symbolism.

Hoag’s Object, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(367 words, 1 image, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

Brothers ‘N’ Bandits, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

One of the signs of a band having something about them, the spark of creativity that will stand them in good stead in years to come, is being able to perform at the drop of a hat and surprise an audience by being an unlisted addition; it is how you conduct yourself as a group at the very beginning that sets the seal on how you will be seen later on in your career.

Brothers ‘N’ Bandits, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(342 words, 1 image, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

Nik Kershaw, Gig Review. O2 Academy, Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 22nd 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

A night of two halves joined by a very talented individual thread, that is the key behind Nik Kershaw’s fantastic night at the Liverpool o2 Academy show,.  It was a night where both performer and audience reminisced in the depths of music and came up with a set list that defied time and made the most of some of the excellent new songs from his latest album.

Nik Kershaw, Gig Review. O2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(437 words, 1 image, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Room For Rent, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 16th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ***

Every band has to start somewhere; it is a basic fact of live music and of life and some don’t, for whatever reason, make it in the end.  However, sometimes the hint of promise is there from the start and even if there is a long way to go before the inevitable success; these are moments when the band first performs that makes it all worthwhile.

Room For Rent, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(357 words, 1 image, estimated 1:26 mins reading time)

Brothers ‘N’ Bandits, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 16th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

If you are going to do a cover version of a song in your set as a young and up-coming band, make it a good one, preferably a hit record, and then stomp all over it in size ten shoes and take an eight pound mallet to it to tenderise and finally hold it up to the watching audience and say, “look this is how it should be done.” This is how Brothers ‘N’ Bandits treated the crowd at the o2 Academy to their version of Coldplay’s Yellow and it was magnificent to witness.

Brothers ‘N’ Bandits, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

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

Idlewild, Gig Review. O2 Academy, Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Originally published by L.S. Media. July 6th 2009.

Another band to make this years Summer Pops is Idlewild, with six studio albums already behind them and a recording history of over 10 years, Idlewild took the brave decision to play a city that they don’t traditionally do well in, especially when you compare the fan base nationally.

The lads from Scotland opened the set with I Don’t Have a Map from 100 Broken Windows and the bouncy In Competition for the Worst Time from the 2007 studio album Make Another World before showcasing one of the new songs from the soon to be released studio album Post Electric Blues, the very enjoyable City Hall.

Idlewild, Gig Review. O2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(348 words, 1 image, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

Stephen Langstaff, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Originally published by L.S. Media. October 1st 2009.

Arriving on stage, on the second night of the tour and back in his home town, Stephen Langstaff thrilled an extra large crowd with a headliners performance. Stephen was at the Academy as part of the Academy live tour and even though he had only forty five minutes to show once more why he is being touted as a huge talent that will surely rise to the top of the music tree one day, he rose to the occasion perfectly.

Stephen Langstaff, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(299 words, 1 image, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)

Hugh Cornwell, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Birmingham.

Originally published by The Birmingham Mail. November 2009.

An altercation with a fan over a camera flash left a packed house briefly in fear that Hugh Cornwell would not return for the second of a set of two halves featuring songs from his latest offering Hooverdam and re-visiting The Stranglers’ 1977 debut album Rattus Norvegicus.

However, Hugh returned to bring the house down with the old favourites, kicking off with Sometimes, followed by the entire album including Goodbye Toulouse, Peaches, Hanging Around and Down in the Sewer.

Hugh Cornwell, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Birmingham. full post

(154 words, estimated 37 secs reading time)