Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
It takes stamina and fortitude to tame the strength of Runaway Horses, however, on the odd occasion they can also be brought to heel by the grace and beauty of a performance which has never diminished from the first faltering steps and through to the accomplished portrayal of one who has seen and done it all with fire coursing through their veins.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
In another place, perhaps in one which the overhead skies are permanently blue, the sun shines down with the kindness of a first date in summer and with the sizzling aroma of food being cooked for the hungry but dedicated masses, then having three support acts, or more, is arguably one in which the audiences can really get their teeth into. Aside from the logistics of such an action when held indoors and with limited time available, the feeling is one in which a support act to the main event gets some recognition but doesn’t have enough time in which to truly either leave their mark on the memory of the assembled.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
There were always so many bands that were knocking on the door of the Metal scene as the genre exploded, groups that encompassed the complexity of style and the openness of lyrical exploration. Whilst Britain and America had the monopoly for a generation, if we were to look at the time afresh, would fans struggle of the concept of the big four, where would bands from the rest of Europe, South America and beyond fit into this seemingly timeless conglomerate, would it not encompass a far broader base of Metal as Metallica seemed to take the avenue down and leaving the Thrash behind.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
There is still time, an illusionary discourse perhaps as all things must eventually fade from view but as we approach our own deal with our makers and accept that we cannot go on forever, so we begin to see Time as our witness, our star spectator and possible judge. For Time is the harshest critic and the kindest of opponents, Time is the beat between the strings of the truculent guitar, the pulse in the drum pattern and the throb of delight as the lyrics of a career fill a venue, the volume drowning the thought that in the end, everybody says goodbye one final time.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Even the sternest downpour on any given day in Birmingham would find it demanding, a grim and tiresome challenge, to attempt to quell the fire in the hearts of Florida’s Obituary and their fans; a monsoon of emotions erupting as the first toll of the metal bell was heard, the swathe of the audience that had made sure of their places for the first act of four to grace the Birmingham Arena, a notice given, the tributes written possibly in advance, retirement for the main event of the evening. For Obituary, the rain that had fallen, the deluge that had swept over the city streets, was soon forgotten, this was a return to the Birmingham public and one that was greeted with heated passion.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
When we were younger…a mere step or the beat of a chord from where Magnum used to practise in the fabled Rum Runner Club and within the shadow of memories of being arguably the finest of bands to have the Birmingham stamp placed upon its history and resume, the Symphony Hall played host to the band, and in a reversal of fortunes of weather, no longer put off by the snow and devastation of postponed music, instead it was the heat and sheer intensity of the homecoming gig to which the end of the tour will always be remembered.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
With a little help from your friends, you cannot ask for more in life except having the drive to be the very best version of yourself possible, both of these states of mind are there to remind you that you have a responsibility to perform and take in the very immense situations that you may find yourself within, that the song, the smile and the swagger, are there because the world demands beauty in the face of possible oppression.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The Bad Flowers at Asylum 2, Birmingham. Photograph reproduced with kind permission by Mark Varney and Noble PR.
If you are not ready, focused and with your eyes trained on the 10 yards beyond the finishing line then no matter how hard you try, you won’t hear the Starting Gun and before you know it that finishing line has been reached and the possible enjoyment, the statement of intent and your mark upon the world has been sabotaged by your own reluctance to see how great you could have been.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Those Damn Crows at Asylum 2, Birmingham. February 2018. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
The dragon lives long and breathes fire that catches everything around it alight, the initial spark that comes from the belly of the beast is soon glowing furnace hot and finds a way to demonstrate its wrath. The anger at having been penned in by a society that understands nothing of why the burning issues of the day are important, why just because one person is doing alright, that another should be ridiculed and shamed for not being able to see above the shoulders of those above them.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Away from a night surrounded by folk musicians and the odd nervous poet in attendance, everybody from the high end diva tagged performer to the watcher in the wings wants nothing more than the spectacular on stage. The crowd may feel as they have got their money’s worth, the fawned over photograph a hit on social media, a certain kind of artist knowing that if the crowd goes wild then the sales of DVD and all its associated regalia projected to be sellers for the Christmas market; the bigger, the better, the brasher; to be talked about for weeks and have the lights be more vivid than a night in Blackpool.