Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Music is infectious, it sits laying in wait to pounce, biding its time for the perfect moment in which to strike out, to nip at the heart strings and the conscious of all; if the bite is true, if it is considered and well aimed then it leads the willing quarry down a path of putting music above all else and letting the soft notes, the booming structures of cascading cool and harmony and megaliths of wattage and output reach out in search of the next generation.

Liverpool arguably unlike any other city in the U.K. has music not only tucked into its D.N.A., it also knows how to spread it further, through every pore of the young and the enthused and it is never a surprise when a new group comes along with building interest, with budding potential and lyrics of their own truth to match.

Supporting The Christians, one of Liverpool’s great and favoured bands of the last 50 years is to be seen as an honour, Garry Christian does not suffer fools but is certainly open, approachable and honest in his appraisal of young bands and music and if he puts you on, if he gives you the stage then it must be grabbed with both hands and made sincere. It was the youthful exuberance of Shamona that opened up the night at The Grand Central Hall, the candid shyness soon blown away in well natured and engrossed applause from the crowd.

Time ticks by so quickly in this world and people’s perceptions of allowing art to grow upon them has become something of a waning factor; it is possibly and more than likely that this comes from the endless talent shows and sycophantic brutal world of television; time is a commodity that is now for sale and nurturing talent to the peak of its full maturity now a lost art in itself. However as Shamona played their set, Time was noticeably wrestled to the floor and slapped, told to be quiet for a while so that the threesome could set out their stall properly and it was time well spent.

With songs such as Rich Man’s Sake, Heed The Call, These Days, Foreign Affair and a very cool cover of Stevie Wonder’s Superstition leaving their own indelible marks on the evening, the audience were left in no doubt that music had claimed another soul, three young lads now engrained into the folklore of the city.

Music and Time, bedfellows with outrageous demands, engrossed in the act of making sure their value is felt across the age; Shamona are ones to keep an eye on as they take down Time with ease and music with confidence.

Ian D. Hall