Tag Archives: Wolverhampton.

And Then There Were None, Theatre Review. Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Paul Nicholas, Colin Buchanan, Susan Penhaligon, Mark Curry, Verity Rushworth, Frazer Hines, Ben Nealon, Eric Carte, Judith Rae, Paul Hassall, Jan Knightley.

Justice, it should be seen as being above all. The knowledge that justice must not only be done but seen to be done is the overriding factor in any democratic society. What happens when justice is served by an unhinged mind? The reasons of impartiality become skewed and twisted and whilst it gets the job of retribution done, the voyeuristic viewer becomes entangled in the right of death debate too closely.

And Then There Were None, Theatre Review. Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton. full post

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

Kaiser Chiefs, Gig Review. Civic Hall, Wolverhampton.

Kaiser Chiefs at the Civic Hall, Wolverhampton. February 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Kaiser Chiefs at the Civic Hall, Wolverhampton. February 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Arena tours are all well and good but on the odd occasion, to take a step away from the big swirling spaces and resonating echoes that the big halls can provide with serial relish, and to come to a venue steeped in musical history in the Midlands and remains captivatingly one of the best for atmosphere and crowd enjoyment, the Kaiser Chiefs hit the Wolverhampton Civic Hall with so much ammunition, so much energy, that the only surprise was the building and the audience were left intact at the end.

Kaiser Chiefs, Gig Review. Civic Hall, Wolverhampton. full post

(514 words, 1 image, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Magnum, Gig Review. Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton.

Bob Catley in action. Photgraph by Ian D. Hall

Originally published by The Birmingham Mail. October 2009.

They opened the show with material from their new album Into The Valley of the Moonking, including the fantastic Cry to Yourself but Magnum soon reminded the audience of their past work with Brand New Morning and the effortless When We Were Younger.

The biggest cheer of the night deservedly went out to the thought provoking Les Morte Dansant,

Magnum, Gig Review. Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton. full post

(153 words, 1 image, estimated 37 secs reading time)

Jet, Gig Review. Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton.

Originally published by The Birmingham Mail. September 2009.

Hot on the heels of the release of their third album, Aussie foursome Jet treated their fanatical audience to an evening of strong riffs, fine lyrics and the occasional bit of crowd banter.

They opened with Get What You Need from 2003’s debut album Get Born before going headlong into the superb She’s a Genius, the band’s first single from the new C.D. Shaka Rock.

Despite some derogatory comments from a tiny section of the crowd, lead vocalist Nic Cester kept his cool and let the music do the talking with Beat On Repeat, the radio hit Are You Gonna Be My Girl? and the foot stomping Seventeen.

Jet, Gig Review. Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton. full post

(157 words, estimated 38 secs reading time)

Manic Street Preachers, Gig Review. Civic Hall, Wolverhampton.

Originally published by The Birmingham Mail. June 2009.

With the new album, Journal for Plague Lovers, barely out its packaging, the Manic Street Preachers stoked up the heat at the Wolverhampton Civic as they showed what the music scene had been missing for the past few years.

By playing the new offering its entirety, the capacity crowd was given the chance to savour some of the last work of Richey Edwards, whose lyrics have been set to music by the band.

These included opening track Peeled Apples Me and Stephen Hawking and the lament William’s Last Words.

Manic Street Preachers, Gig Review. Civic Hall, Wolverhampton. full post

(207 words, estimated 50 secs reading time)

Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Gig Review. Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton.

Originally published by The Birmingham Mail. May 2009.

Opening the evening with Suave and Suffocated from 1992’s Are You Normal and the excellent All I Ask Of Myself Is That I Hold Together from 1995’s Brainbloodvolume, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin came, saw and conquered an absolutely packed audience with a set that never once let up on pace.

With much reminiscing, the band blitzed through classics like Until You Find Out from their debut album God Fodder, Walking Through Syrup and the amazing Two and Two Make Five.

Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Gig Review. Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton. full post

(170 words, estimated 41 secs reading time)

Joe Bonamassa, Gig Review. Civic Hall, Wolverhampton.

Originally published by The Birmingham Mail. April 2009.

Joe Bonamassa shows that you can be considered a blues legend before you reach 40. The likeable and amiable singer and guitarist has played with some of the greats of the genre but he still seems to be in awe of the fact that a capacity crowd of music lovers would come and see him perform live.

He began a night of incredible music with Django from the 2006 album You and Me before going full steam into the Ballad of John Henry from this year’s album offering of the same name.

Joe Bonamassa, Gig Review. Civic Hall, Wolverhampton. full post

(136 words, estimated 33 secs reading time)

Apocalyptica, Gig Review. Civic Hall, Wolverhampton.

Originally published by The Birmingham Mail. December 2008.

With their fusion of heart-pounding riffs and solid dependable drumming, Apocalyptica have become one of the best reasons to enjoy heavy metal again.

To be able to take a decent selection of thrash kings Metallica’s music and play it note perfect on four cellos and a drum takes an awful lot of skill.  Apolcalyptica have now broadened their range with some cracking pieces of music of their own.

The Metallica tracks were covered brilliantly, especially Fight Fire With Fire and possibly Metallica’s finest song, One. Apocalyptica rounded off a genuinely enjoyable evening with the encores Enter Sandman and a fantastic version of Greig’s Mountain King.

Apocalyptica, Gig Review. Civic Hall, Wolverhampton. full post

(119 words, estimated 29 secs reading time)

Heaven 17, A.B.C., Human League, Gig Review. Civic Hall, Wolverhampton.

Originally published by The Birmingham Mail. November 2008.

When three of the great pop acts of the 80’s decide to share the same bill and perform some of the decade’s more memorable hits, you can be assured of a great night out and some very pleasant memories.

Heaven 17 was given the almighty task of opening the evening coming on stage with all guns blazing with (We Don’t Need This (Facist Groove Thang, from their debut album Penthouse and Pavement. Truly some great songs followed, including Geisha Boys and Temple Girls, Let Me Go and their big hit Temptation.

Heaven 17, A.B.C., Human League, Gig Review. Civic Hall, Wolverhampton. full post

(203 words, estimated 49 secs reading time)

Thunder, Gig Review. Civic Hall, Wolverhampton.

Originally published by The Birmingham Mail. November 2008.

AC/DC’s Thunderstruck heralded the arrival of Thunder on stage and from that moment the audience was firmly held in an iron grip.

A loud pyrotechnic burst signalled “The Bang” but then Thunder went back to their first album and the Backstreet Symphony.  This was followed by two songs from the recently released album Bang, the tongue in cheek On The Radio and Carol Ann and finished with the perennial crowd pleaser Dirty Love which left the audience breathless.

Ian D. Hall

Permanent link to this post (90 words, estimated 22 secs reading time)