Tag Archives: Gig Review. Epstein Theatre

Graham Gouldman, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. (2017).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Graham Gouldman at the Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. October 2017. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Graham Gouldman always comes across as that kindly uncle who also happens to double up as the most interesting man in the room and finds time to have one of the sharpest song writing minds of the last 50 years. It is a moment of pleasure in your own life when you realise just how exquisite the songs that he has been involved in, across his own solo career, with one of the biggest bands of their time or for others, luminaries such as The Yardbirds or for The Hollies, nothing comes close to that feeling, nothing prepares you for the delights to come.

Graham Gouldman, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. (2017). full post

(437 words, 1 image, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Jack Lukeman, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

You can hear all the songs in the world, you can find a way to lose your soul along the way, sell it for a pocket full of gold and exchange it all to listen to the songs of every artist for the rest of your life. However, there will come a time when a song that is hugely influential on the shape of the conscious of so many, suddenly becomes something more, more dramatic, mixing patience and urgency in the same breath, then for all the songs and renditions that have gone before, you cannot help but feel sorry for anyone who tries to top them.

Jack Lukeman, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(437 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Elfin Bow, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Elfin Bow cuts a figure of radiant cool as she stands upon the stage at the Epstein Theatre, bathed not only in the glow of spotlights that change with the mood of the song, not only caught in the appreciation of an audience who have travelled the distance with her, but one who with a sense of serenity captures the mood of an album launch to its very finest interpretation, a show, a feast for the crowd, ones who are sated and comfortable, enriched by the experience of what has come before them, an offering by an artist.

Elfin Bow, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(392 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Midge Ure, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

It might feel as if you are living in the worst of times, the 2016 American Presidential race has descended arguably into a farce, the world is teetering on the edge once more of red buttons being nervously shifted over and citizens wondering just how far the leaders of the nations would go to cut off their nose to spite everybody else’s faces…it does make you speculate and question the validity of humanity’s reign on Earth, it raises doubts on the future; however, in the midst of it all, there is always the fact that you have lived in a time which was honoured to have Midge Ure performing his music in.

Midge Ure, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(475 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Lloyd Cole, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

For the unexpected, the unforeseen droll and beautifully humorous, sometimes you have to go that extra mile, you have to put yourself into the path of the genius and let their song cleanse your spirit.

Lloyd Cole, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(438 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Vonda Shepard, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Television may have brought the name of Vonda Shepard to the vast majority of British music lovers but the genuine appeal of her touching song writing and piano playing is the truth of why she has retained that adoration from her audiences and the abundance of spirit in her recording career. Vonda Shepard is remarkable, a woman of clear and precise musical beauty and to whom the smile never seems to fade.

Vonda Shepard, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(406 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

Fleetwood Bac, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Nostalgia, the driving force that reminds us that Time is not always a kindly benevolent force, that the moment we find ourselves in must be seized upon, fully explored and the point between the tick and tock is all to fleeting; love, if it is found in that moment, should be dived into regardless of the consequences. Nostalgia, it is what keeps the brain coming back for more of what it needs and the soul for what it loves. In the music of Fleetwood Mac, in whatever form and guise across the decades, is the love that brings many people together and it is with a nostalgic glint in their eyes that Fleetwood Bac play to the audience at the Epstein Theatre with.

Fleetwood Bac, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(469 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Low, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Verging on the eerily quiet, almost as still and motionless as a field of corn waiting to be reaped for the summer’s harvest; hardly a word passing and only punctuated by the odd yell of excitement from the stalls and the spontaneous applause towards a band that arguably had performed one of the sets of the year. For the Epstein Theatre audience on a sticky and sweat filled August evening, watching Low was going to be a highlight of the year and the band never failed to live up to the enormous expectation.

Low, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(408 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

John O’ Connell, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is always the novel approach, the unexpected gig to hit the Liverpool streets or the venue in which the audience turn up for a different kind of theatrical experience, the play may well be the thing but it is music after all in which captures the conscious of the audience and there are very few people like one of the Merseyside area’s favourite sons, John O’ Connell, in which to liberate the expanse of music on stage and to give a genuine feeling of love to the classical side of guitar performance.

John O’ Connell, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(369 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

Howard Jones, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

As the music of a generation plays, as the notes of the keyboard play out the tunes and songs that captured the soul of any who were enthused with its drive and upbeat melody, the pumped dry ice that crawls on stage, that litters the air and shrouds each track with its steely presence, is almost spectral, wraith-like and pronounced and it offers the Epstein Theatre audience a type of nostalgic yearning to head back to the days when Howard Jones, one of music’s true gentlemen, was never off the radio.

Howard Jones, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(464 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)