Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Wirral based group Crooked Wolf may have only been performing together for around a year but as they bask in the sunlight in The Ship Inn as part of the Oxjam event in Hoylake, the stirrings of something great has grown teeth and chewed its way through the past.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Alex Pardey, James Boys, James Telfer, Martin Poile, Harry Parker, Jonny Campbell, Jack Conway, Liam Middleton, Akthar, Gertaint Williams, Barney Elliot, Alun Simpson, Georgina Rose.
There are moments in a young actor’s life, whether or not they take it any further in years to come or are content with having been a part of just one show, where they will look back and relish in the memory of what they achieved in two hours on stage.
Marianne Galloway, part of the folk band Galloway, Culbert and Doyle. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Liverpool’s much prized status as the most cultured city within the U.K. has been further enhanced in recent months by the emergence of a young traditional folk band with the guile and intelligence that marks them out as a very special breed of musicians.
Galloway, Culbert and Doyle are three University of Liverpool students who have brought to their adopted home a sense of pride in reviving the spirit of traditional English folk music and confirming that Liverpool is quite rightly the City of Culture in England.
Igor Memic. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
For anyone who was fortunate enough to catch Igor Memic’s production of Happy at the Lantern Theatre this year, not only was it a first rate play designed to make audiences think but it was one of the finest moments in surreal escapism that crowd would have been privy to see during 2012.
Igor Memic is an enigma, driven and destined it seems to go on and make the theatre a place where his name will be seen for many years. Igor was born in Mostar, Bosnia to a Bosnian mother and Croatian father. It is this exotic mix, combined with a love of London and Liverpool that makes him an impressive figure to talk to.
Jessica Beare and Abi Carter in Fanny and Faggot. Photograph by Ian D. Hall
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Jessica Beare, Abi Carter, Heather Madden, Harry Parker, Alex Webber-Date.
As director of the production, Rio Matchett should receive a lot of commendation for having the incredible fortitude and sheer will in putting herself and the superb cast through their paces for the play Fanny and Faggot. Not only is Jack Thorne’s play a minefield of emotions that the theatre goer may feel in parts uncomfortable with, it also forces that same theatre goer to understand the social depravity that Mary Bell was put through and what perhaps turned her head and her reasoning into one of unremitting violence.
Mark Raynor, Iona Campbell, Georgina Rose in Noel Coward’s Stll Life. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Iona Campbell, Jonny Campbell, Jack Conway, Mary Cooper, Barney Eliot, Reuben Green, Mark Raynor, Georgina Rose, Elena Spiegl, Katherine Wright.
With the strains of Noel Coward’s I Went to a Marvellous Party greeting the audience at the University of Liverpool’s intimate theatre space, the stage was set for a renaissance of the great actor and playwrights work performed by L.U.D.S, one of the two amateur dramatic societies that give young budding actors their first real taste of life in front of an audience. Their chosen piece to start their 2012-13 season off was the sublime affair of several hearts, Still Life.
Rio Matchett. Photograph by Ian D. Hall
One of the joys of being in a city such as Liverpool is the abundance of theatres that cater for all tastes and for all actors wishing to tackle the well-trodden boards and add their names to the list of watched and admired artists.
Originally published by L.S. Media. October 24th 2010.
Amsterdam may have been quiet on the recording front this year and only playing a select number of live dates, a critically acknowledged tour alongside The Wonderstuff and a sell-out evening at the Liverpool Academy amongst them, however when they have performed, the music is the same high quality, full of frustration, anger at the way of the world and beautifully, unarguably sentimental.
Originally published by L.S. Media. November 16th 2010.
The Strawbs are one of those acts that you should mark out in your diary as “leave free” for. With a career spanning over 40 years and considered one of the finest exponents of the British Folk/Rock tradition, it is no wonder their gigs are attended by some of the most dedicated followers of live music anywhere.
During the summer of 2010 they even had great success as the Acoustic Strawbs during this year’s inaugural High Voltage event in London.
Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Originally published by L.S. Media. February 8th 2011.
It’s not every band that gets to open for the legendary rock band Kiss, to do so you must have something really special in your armoury. Nevada based band Taking Dawn are one such band that have passed the acid test of touring with Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons and matched them in desire, ability and in some respects even showmanship.
Even with the last album having been in every decent metal fan’s collection for the last year, the crowd that greeted the band as they come on stage was as loud and full of expression for the new metal heroes.