Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
There is so much good talk about Alex Hulme that it is surprising to find the young man doesn’t go round Liverpool and the further afield towns with a permanently embarrassed demeanour. The compliments keep coming, the platitudes deserved and well served with grace and refined considered opinion and above all, none of it goes to his head, not a single piece makes him to be arrogant or supposing and that marks Alex Hulme out to be a genuine and well thought of performer.
It is that well thought of nature that greets the young musician to the District stage and the applause of that of a noble statesman being given respect.
The Sunday afternoon at District had long since disappeared into ether, into a collective past of enjoyment and great music but as the evening and the night ahead opened up fruitfully, Alex Hulme smiled beguilingly from the District stage and then opened up the throttle and the space between guitar notes and gave the crowd the impetuous and reason to stay well into the small dark hours and beyond.
No matter that Mr. Hulme had the shortest set on the night, time dictating as always the necessity of such actions when a festival is in such full swing that delays become inevitable, yet despite that, the music flowed and ebbed like a see-saw being powered by a ship’s huge engine crossed with the force of a nuclear facility on high output due to the demands of a nation thirsty for a full round of tea after watching England win the World Cup.
With four songs to his belt, Alex Hulme gathered momentum with muscle and strength and as Run Rabbit Run, Fight, Lost The Feeling and Decide showered the audience with musical authority, time lost its meaning, the shortness of the moment lengthened and stretched beyond the measure of a simple night of music. What was left at the end was respect, clear and abundant inside the District vicinity and it was respect that was well earned and given ample triumph. The demeanour never slackened though, for Alex Hulme is a man of good reserve and it is this action as he left the stage, one of quiet contentment for a job well done.
A superb set by Alex Hulme, one of blistering pace and meaning all rolled into one special reason for loving music.
Ian D. Hall