Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
It is easy to love James Wyatt, the young performer almost shyly stipulates such cool and terrific poise on stage that to not admire him, to not fall for the songs of bitterness, of despair and desperate longing in an unfair and charmless world, is to realise that your ears have long since given up the task they were appointed for, that this is music that sits very much in the same vein as some of the great performers at their most iconic and virtuous.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Being away from home does not stop people caring about you, it does not mean that you are able to shrink in stature or let the light of the song ever diminish; for by doing so, the light fades and allows darkness to fill the void. It is darkness that never once pokes its head above the trenches as far as the beautiful voice and song writing of Esme Bridie is concerned.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9.5/10
Some people are just destined to be on the stage and become the natural performer that fortune and Kismet nod their approvals for, for the future belongs to them.
In Mersey Wylie, a woman whose very name holds fascination and the sense of History that the city of Liverpool enjoys to the very maximum, kismet has more than met its match. For the sheer presence of the woman as she sings has undergone so much revolution and wonderful development from the first moments she stood on the stage at Zanzibar just a mere 16 months ago. Already brimming with the cool and the collected, she now radiates gravitas and so much fun that Quality Street would do well to take notes on what fun actually is; fun it seems is to watch Mersey Wylie enjoy herself as she sings songs that captivate and take your heart prisoner.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There is almost a sense of pity that should be extended outwards to anyone that doesn’t find the prospect of Rock, in whichever shape or form, an exciting prospect in which to delve head first into and wallow in its electric vibe and luminous structured beast like glow for however long the offer is on for.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
They might be a new name on the Liverpool band board but don’t let that fool you, for in their own dramatic fashion, Jo Mary already have a groove and perseverance that many who have been going for years would find hard to equal.
It is in the measure of both Stillhet’s prowess to find such emerging talent and place them head first into the depths of creativity via their enormously enjoyable Strings and Things evenings and in Jo Mary themselves that the unexpected ease in which they ploughed through a selection of covers but done with impossible sounding inventiveness, and a taste of what is hopefully to come in the future with a track of their own making, the dynamic and vibrant Glass Eyed and Shameless.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Time is both cruel and unusual, as well being the well thought of great healer. It asks so much of us and in many ways offers so little in return. To be able to find time to watch all the great bands that come your way, that visit your nearest venue is an almost an impossible ask; to follow round every possible staging post one of the great young acts that the city has nurtured over the last few years is sadly unworkable in the modern age, to do deprives your attention from others, just as deserving, just as enjoyable, and yet when Kevin Critchley comes on stage, Time does its best to hold back the constant ticking.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
In recent years Norway has given so much to Liverpool’s present musical heritage that it is almost becoming a true tradition to be able to walk into any venue in the wider city and hear the flowing tones of the Nordic ability for storytelling transformed into epic song played, and fully appreciated.
It is the long standing convention that people of Scandinavia have their culture and their physical geography to thank for that, like Britain, of Europe but not immersed fully into the characteristics of their land locked neighbours further south or the mysterious tales that come from Mediterranean culture. With the addition of Jenny Strand to that heritage, the future has yet more reason to be hopeful.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
A certain combined wisdom can come together when like-minded people are in sync, inspiration can strike and the effect is not only tangible but far-reaching.
For The Hazel Empire, inspiration and wisdom go hand in hand with musical enjoyment and like all flourishing Empires, the seeds of knowledge cast their net wide and more people find themselves drawn to the apparent mysticism contained within.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Truer words are rarely spoken at any gig. The visiting band might say at some point how much they love a particular town or city, they might perhaps, and with great sincerity attached to their name, say that the audience has been the best on the tour, after all one gig in arguably ten is going to be right. However, when Nadjia sings inside the Parr Street’s Studio 2 about Time not being a creature to be tamed, the truth of existence is placed naked before the world, that the time between the tick and tock might be kind, it might treat you well, but it will still ravage your very soul in the end.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Ingrid Frøsland was in unique company as she stood on the stage at Studio 2 on Parr Street. Not only did she meet head on the hopes and expectations of the abundant crowd who had come to see her perform but she slotted herself perfectly into a night of female led revolution as part of March’s Strings and Things. She carried the Norwegian flag high alongside Mari Hajem and Nora Konstanse, an image which would not look out of place if the Norwegians had been allowed to lead the storming of the Bastille.