Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Thom Morecroft at Liverpool Calling 2018. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Life is busy, we have made it our mission it seems to fill the hours in such a way that to sit still for a while and take in the sound of a local great might raise a few eyebrows on the faces of those who believe we should always be expending energy; that you are not actually being productive if you not moving a muscle.

The point though is made when you watch someone who feeds the momentum that your mind can race with, that the artist who sees the world from a different angle and perspective is willing you to join them on the expedition through their chosen medium and give you the opportunity to see the world, without you having to do anything but sit back, relax the body and do the most absorbing and demanding pursuit that any human can do, to listen.

The outdoor stage at Constellations might have been more relaxed than the scintillating frenzy of sound that could be felt rumbling through the concrete floor and the pace of raised glasses in salute to the bands making their way through their sets inside the venue; however, in Thom Morecroft, the quality of the music, of the lyric that has been very much of his armour and fight for so long, was like witnessing a cliff withstand the tremors and tempest from the raging sea.

Following on from the likes of fellow performers such as Michael Bennett and The Southbound Attic Band might be a tall ask for some, not because of any dip in quality, but because the bar that so many put into place, is especially high. Thom Morecroft, one of the great imports to the city’s music appreciation over the years, jumped the bar with the help of a local crowd, and a few people that made the city their home for the weekend, and gave an unrestricted and beautifully unhindered performance.

A set that encompassed Oh Rocko, Pictures In The Sun, Coming Up For Air, Holly, the superb Daisy and On All Night, a crowd which had enjoyed the warm June day, and the knowledge that was all part of the return of the much praised Liverpool Calling Festival, all making the afternoon one of the best and enjoyable to be had; Thom Morecroft may be the ideal of a Shropshire Lad, but he really does espouse the virtue of the call of Liverpool.  

Ian D. Hall