Yearly Archives: 2014

Hancock’s Half Hour (Revisited): The First Night Party. Audio Comedy Review. 60th Anniversary.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Tony Hancock, Sidney James, Bill Kerr, Moira Lister, Alan Simpson, Gerald Campion, Kenneth Williams.

The first night of any new venture can be a daunting one, for the arts it sows the seeds of excitement and despair, of hope in a long running show or the gloomy realisation that months of preparation had all come crashing down before the first sentence uttered. How do you get round this, how to win over those who would write about you and the programme and get them to give you at least a passing golden smile within the column inches afforded them? For Tony Hancock the answer is simple, throw a first night party, invite all the big names from the B.B.C. and newspapers and watch as the reviews come glowingly in.

Hancock’s Half Hour (Revisited): The First Night Party. Audio Comedy Review. 60th Anniversary. full post

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

Crowded Scouse, Gig Review. Everyman Theatre. Regional Mersey Head & Neck Cancer Centre Charity Evening.

There are moments in life that no matter how great they are, no matter how impressive the sound, the action or the memory, it just cannot be assigned a number or a star rating. To do so demeans the experience and the reason why the event happened.

Crowded Scouse, Gig Review. Everyman Theatre. Regional Mersey Head & Neck Cancer Centre Charity Evening. full post

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

Robert Vincent, Gig Review. Everyman Theatre. Regional Mersey Head & Neck Cancer Centre Charity Evening, Liverpool.

As part of the Regional Mersey Head & Neck Cancer Centre charity evening event at the award winning Everyman Theatre, the audience, who had danced and partied to Crowded Scouse as if was the end of the year and were just awaiting the signal to start counting down the seconds to bring in 2015, were given the irresistible sound of one of Liverpool’s finest musicians to further send them into orbit.  Who really needs the chimes of Big Ben hammering through the speakers and the often false gaiety that comes with cheering a large alarm clock when the audience inside the Everyman Theatre can have the delicious voice of Robert Vincent soothing their passage towards daybreak?

Robert Vincent, Gig Review. Everyman Theatre. Regional Mersey Head & Neck Cancer Centre Charity Evening, Liverpool. full post

(502 words, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

Nightcrawler, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T. Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, Marco Rodriguez, Riz Ahmed, James Huang, Michael Papajohn, Kent Shocknek, Pat Harvey, Sharon Tay, Rick Garcia, Leah Fredkin, Bill Seward, Rick Chambers, Jonny Coyne, Kiff VandenHeuve, Price Carson, Michael Hyatt, Ann Cusack.

“On television, it all looks so real” – the damning words of a high functioning sociopath in charge of a camera or the unhinged thoughts of those who peddle the images in which gore, distress and the unfamiliar suffering directly into the world’s living rooms under the designation of news but in many cases is the cold white furnace that fuels a disturbing and unavoidable thriller.

Nightcrawler, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T. Liverpool. full post

(552 words, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)

Mr. Turner, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Timothy Spall, Paul Jesson, Dorothy Atkinson, Marion Bailey, Karl Johnson, Ruth Sheen, Sandy Foster, Amy Dawson, Lesley Manville, Martin Savage, Richard Bremmer, Niall Buggy, Fred Pearson, Tom Edden, Jamie Thomas King, Mark Stanley, Nicholas Jones, Clive Francis, Robert Portal, Simon Chandler, Edward de Souza, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, James Fleet, Patrick Godfrey, Karina Fernandez, Alice Bailey Johnson, Alice Orr-Ewing, Veronica Roberts, Michael Keane, James Norton, Nicola Sloane, Joshua McGuire, Sylvestra Le Touzel, Stuart McQuarrie, David Horovitch, Fenella Woolgar,  Sinead Matthews, Tom Wlaschiha, Lee Ingleby, Mark Wingett, Sam Kelly, Nicholas Woodeson, Elizabeth Berrington.

 

Mr. Turner, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

The Barr Brothers, Gig Review. Hare and Hounds, Birmingham.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

When The Barr Brothers were last in Birmingham at the 2013 Moseley Folk Festival, the merchandise tent had to send for extra copies of their self-titled debut album, such was the demand.  Since then, the band have written and recorded their second album Sleeping Operator and quite rightly they were welcomed back to south Birmingham area for a sell-out gig, on the last date of their current U.K. tour.

The Barr Brothers, Gig Review. Hare and Hounds, Birmingham. full post

(423 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Half Baked, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre Studio, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Josie Sedgwick-Davies, Emily Woosey, Lucy Harris, Tom Harrington, Nick Crosbie, Jamie Brownson.

Change happens, it might be overnight, it could be over a decade; however, eventually all things must change. The trouble is at times adjustment happens because of outside influences, the world forces transformation at a quickening pace and people get left behind as they struggle to come to terms with the new situation that has come along. For those that are fortunate, transformation happens on their own terms and they are able to carry on kicking against the world with a smile on their face. For the staff of a small family run bakery in Warrington, change is inevitable in Alex Joynes’ new play Half Baked.

Half Baked, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre Studio, Liverpool. full post

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

Lone Survivor: The Director’s Cut. (PS4) Game Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9 out of 10

Lone Survivor: The Director’s Cut is a psychological survival horror adventure game available for download from the PlayStation Store for the PS4. The sub-title of the game is rather appropriate as this is an extended version of the cult indie game by Jasper Byrne, which was originally released in Europe on March 27th 2012 and America on April 23rd 2012 for the P.C., Mac and Linux with PS3 and Vita releases following on September 24th 2013.

Lone Survivor: The Director’s Cut. (PS4) Game Review. full post

(2425 words, estimated 9:42 mins reading time)

Cottonwoolf, E.P. Review

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It may seem a strange affair to consider, perhaps even rum in some music lover’s eyes, but not every rock/R&B fan likes Led Zeppelin. It seems to be a permanent question that hangs on the mouths of the pop fan like a drip feed tube giving nutrients to a coma patient, you like rock, then you must like Led Zeppelin. Whilst the Midland’s band might not be everybody’s personal liking, there is a young band who has climbed the slippery slope out of Leeds and who tickles the taste buds of musical sincerity with their debut E.P. Cottonwoolf.

Cottonwoolf, E.P. Review full post

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

Dana Fuchs, Songs From The Road. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Roads are there to be travelled, no matter how long and straight it looks, it will lead somewhere. The road to Hell paved with good intentions, the sunny side of the street or the enclosed, tempting and quiet cul-de-sac in which you may never depart; all have their points of interest and all should contain a reason to be there. For the superbly talented Dana Fuchs the road is one in which Ruf Records have placed her vibrant live set down for all to hear and in Songs From The Road everything sounds sweet, vivacious and only enhances the Florida musician’s reputation.

Dana Fuchs, Songs From The Road. Album Review. full post

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