Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Even now there is a kind of reverence attached to finding a good Rock pub and seeing in the corner a juke box. Shuffling over, walking past the possible bruising and certain derogatory tones should your choices fill the place with ire or at the very least, a tut from the resident barman who will give you a blank look all night when you try to order a beer, you take a cursory glance at the music on offer and finding a pound in amongst the lint and fluff, make your well-armed choice.
Conversely, by taking the same reverential walk to the Philharmonic Hall and listening to The Classic Rock Show upon their return to the venue after a couple of years gap, the only sound to be heard for listening to over twenty of the greatest Rock guitar riffs ever recorded and the songs that encompassed their near-like divinity, is that of mutual appreciation and applause from an audience so entertained that they could have easily gone through the same set list over and over again.
The Classic Rock Show, quite arguably the one group in the world who live up to their name before a single note is played, have changed their personal since they last graced the stage at the Philharmonic Hall, but have lost none of the intensity, none of the joy that comes with performing songs that have lit up the ages like a beacon of hope nor none of the passion in making sure that bands such as Eagles, Supertramp, Boston and Wings and the stand out guitar solos that made their greatest tracks will always be remembered, even if the majority of the groups no longer perform in their original format anymore.
Opening the evening with Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love and the storming Eagles track Life In the Fast Lane, the group, Edoardo Scordo, Karl Penney, Wayne Banks, Alex Dee, Carl Sentence, James Cole, the exceptional Howie G, Steve Parry and Emily Jollands gave the Philharmonic Hall audience a night of completeness in one sitting. A faithful and compelling rendition of songs such as The Who’s Pinball Wizard and Won’t Get Fooled Again, Supertramp’s marvellous Logical Song, Dire Straights’ Magnus opus Telegraph Road and their world wide hit Money For Nothing, arguably the greatest Bond theme ever in Wing’s Live and Let Die, Queen’s One Vision, Toto’s and Boston pulsating anthems Rosanna and More Than A Feeling and finally the often voted as the finest cover of all time of a Beatles track, Alex Gee’s shattering performance of With A Little Help From My Friends giving the late Joe Cocker a send off that nobody in the audience surely would have wanted done any other way, each were greeted with the respect that they deserved.
You might walk into a pub and see the glimmering oasis of a good juke box, you might have put together such a compilation on a C.D. and played it to death in the comfort of your own home, but nothing reaches the stirring heights that comes with hearing the songs from over 40 years of blistering Rock being played out infront of you and the memories they invoke. Memories that rush and tumble in appreciation of a song well played and that brings a smile of recognition to the face.
A classic night out in Liverpool, a great show and above all, played with utter conviction.
Ian D. Hall