Monthly Archives: July 2014

Bouncers, Theatre Review. The Royal Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Paul Broughton, Danny O’ Brien, Louis Emerick, Michael Starke.

The 1980s nightclub, the big night out, big hair, cheaper beer, even cheaper aftershave and perfume sprayed on as liberally as showering underneath Victoria Falls for five days and then taking a dip in a swimming pool to get that real deep down scent. This was the time, depending on where you were living and your circumstances dictated in which Saturday night was the highlight of the week, the chance to meet the girl of your dreams, the man of your nightmares and all washed down with enough alcohol to drown an angel on a week-long bender on a Spanish holiday, all you had to do was get past the Bouncers on the door.

Bouncers, Theatre Review. The Royal Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(543 words, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)

Utopia: Series Two, Episode Four. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Geraldine James, Fiona O’ Shaughnessy, Neil Maskell, Adel Akhtar, Paul Higgins, Alexandra Roach, Nathan Stewart-Jarratt, Oliver Woollford, Sylvestra Le Touzel, Michael Maloney, Ian McDiarmid, Paul Ready, Ruth Gemmel, Sacha Dhawan, Martin McDougal, Emilia Jones, Sofe Dirisu, Richard Laing.

Could you kill? Could you really think about pulling a trigger and blowing somebody’s head apart from their soul? The world is on the edge of extinction and somebody has a plan in which to save Humanity as a species, many billions will fade out of existence eventually but they will have at least lived, unlike the possible tens of thousands who are to become carriers of disease in which, to some is actually a better prospect than what could come.

Utopia: Series Two, Episode Four. Television Review. full post

(513 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Hercules, Film Review. Plaza Community Cinema, Crosby.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, John Hurt, Rufus Sewell, Aksel Hennie, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Reece Ritchie, Joseph Fiennes, Tobias Santelmann, Peter Mullan, Rebecca Ferguson, Issac Andrews, Joe Anderson, Stephen Peacocke, Nicholas Moss.

Where does the hero end and the legend, the myth start? Every hero after all needs a writer in which to make them seem invincible, powerful, noteworthy and compassionate to his enemies. In the modern era, every hero has his moment of downfall, his time in which he must wander into the desert of obscurity and take stock of his actions before coming back stronger than ever. In times of Greek and Roman legend, of the classical age, the Gods ruled all and a Demi-God had no such qualms about living up to anything but his name. Such is tale of Hercules and his 12 labours.

Hercules, Film Review. Plaza Community Cinema, Crosby. full post

(582 words, estimated 2:20 mins reading time)

Theory Of A Dead Man, Savages. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Just one song from what could be considered a masterpiece of lyrical writing and a musical high, and even then the song that brings it down a notch is rather good, it just doesn’t fit into the album as a whole. For Theory of A Dead Man arguably won’t mind at all, not after bringing out perhaps the best recording in their history, the mind shattering and explosive Savages.

Theory Of A Dead Man, Savages. Album Review. full post

(441 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Steve Earle To Perform In Liverpool In August.

After many years of numerous awards, extensive solo/acoustic tours, successful acting roles on HBO’s The Wire, and Treme; Steve Earle, the rabble rousing godfather of the alternative country scene is back to tour around Europe in 2014, including an exclusive performance at the Liverpool Auditorium (Echo Arena) on August 20^th 2014.

With his most recent release in 2013 The Low Highway, the 2011 U.K. chart topper I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive, Grammy Award winning 2009 release of his tribute album Townes, and going back even further to his Number One debut album Guitar Town, Earle has an extensive back catalogue which ranges to just under 30 years ago.

Steve Earle To Perform In Liverpool In August. full post

(267 words, estimated 1:04 mins reading time)

The Art Of Falling Apart, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Tim Lynskey, Matt Rutter.

Monty Python may have sold its last dead parrot, served its last piece of Spam and finally insisted that he is not the Messiah, he is just a naughty boy but that’s not to say what has been bequeathed down the years has been forgotten, especially by the three men that make up Big Wow and arguably one of the finest pieces of comedy theatre that you ever likely to lay your eyes upon in The Art of Falling Apart.

The Art Of Falling Apart, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(428 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote Of La Mancha, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Stephen Harper, Merce Ribot, Patricia Rodriguez, Maria Camahort.

To anyone who has ever taken the time to read arguably one of the great novels, The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha or have even spent time in the beautiful medieval part of the city of Alcalá de Henares and looked upon Cervantes’ birthplace, then it is to know history. You can only ever wonder just what would make anybody want to even attempt to take it on a theatre piece; you would have to be as mad surely as Don Quixote himself to even try it.

The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote Of La Mancha, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(417 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

Space, Gig Review. St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool Calling. Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9^1/2/10

Space at St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool Calling. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

High above the city a banner unfurled as it was being towed along by a plane. It was un-missable, which was the point, to anybody who craned their neck and strained their eyesight to a limit not recommended by Opticians. In keeping with the tone of the weekend’s events and as hundreds of thousands packed any available square inch of pavement to them, the banner simply read, “There Are Giants In Town”. That there was but possibly not the ones the pilot was thinking of as he dragged the banner through the summer sky.

Space, Gig Review. St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool Calling. Liverpool. full post

(662 words, 1 image, estimated 2:39 mins reading time)

Jetta, Gig Review. St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool Calling. Liverpool.

Jetta at St. Lukes Church, Liverpool. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8/10

In amongst all the Rock that was being played out to those gathered inside St. Luke’s, an amount of grace was needed and who better than Jetta to give the audience a certain amount of elegance and refined style as the steamy day gave way to warm evening appeal.

Jetta, Gig Review. St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool Calling. Liverpool. full post

(372 words, 1 image, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

The Sundowners, Gig Review. St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool Calling. Liverpool.

The Sundowners, St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool. Liverpool Calling. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Class shows at all times, flair is a trait that just announces itself before a word is spoken, an action inspired or a thought performed in the cold hazy obscured light or in the realms of a thousand eyes trained upon the deed; for The Sundowners, class is ready to be achieved at all times.

The Sundowners, Gig Review. St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool Calling. Liverpool. full post

(429 words, 1 image, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)