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Les Misérables, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Killian Donnelly, Nic Greenshields, Martin Ball, Katie Hall, Tegan Bannister, Bronwen Hanson, Harry Apps, Brian James Leys, Jordan Simon Pollard, Mary-Jane Caldwell Lee Ormsby, Jamie Birkett, Emma Warren, Jessie Hart, Megan Gardiner, Ruby Lyon, Helen Aylott Teleri Hughes, Eva Mairead Connor, Francesca Lidguard, Sadie Horwich, Sophie-Louise Dann, Ava Hope Smith, Lydia Jane Prosser, Eilish Mair Williams, Joseph Sheppard, Noah Walton, Dexter Barry, Leo Miles, Michael Burgen, Will Richardson, Aaron Pryce-Lewis, Shane O’ Riordan, Zac Hamilton, Danny Colligan, Ruben Van Keer, Keoni Blockx, Corrine Priest, Janne Snellen, Joseph Anthony, Nicholas Carter, Nicholas Corrie.

Les Misérables, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(488 words, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

Under Three Moons, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Kyle Rowe, Darren Kuppan.

Men get accused of not talking to one another, about their fears, about their lives, on a daily basis; however, sometimes the words don’t come easily, the possibility of rejection of their thoughts, even by women, can be enough for many men to skirt the issue completely, they just keep saying they are fine, and whilst the dialogue dice is loaded by those who say this is a symbol of toxic masculinity, it could also be a indication of absolute vulnerability.

Under Three Moons, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(410 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Girls Don’t Play Guitars, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Molly Grace Cutler, Alice McKenna, Sarah Workman, Lisa Wright, Jack Alexander, Tom Connor, Tom Dunlea, Guy Freeman, Jonathan Markwood, Mark Newnham.

A throwaway line caught in the ether, a story that deep down nobody seems to remember and yet it did happen and it is one that rivals any of the stories held up to the legend of Liverpool’s music scene, and one so brilliantly captured and focused upon by playwright Ian Salmon.

Girls Don’t Play Guitars, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(483 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Alice Cooper, Gig Review. First Direct Arena, Leeds.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Pure theatre and the exotic pleasure of the captivating soul. There are many ways you can perhaps look at the life and performances of Alice Cooper, undoubtedly, he is first and foremost a showman, the ringmaster to whom nobody can rival, except maybe P.T. Barnum himself.

Alice Cooper, Gig Review. First Direct Arena, Leeds. full post

(401 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

The Stranglers, Gig Review. First Direct Arena, Leeds.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

It is possible to let the music-driven mind deliver itself to a conclusion that nothing can ever truly stop The Stranglers, not even silence.

The sound of the stirring anthem, the call to arms that resides in the heart of the band’s much loved intro, Waltz In Black, came to pass with anticipation and delight; it was palpable, the arena in Leeds matching the expectant buzz to come from the main performance of Alice Cooper and arguably the same sense of passion that older fans of the city’s football team once wrapped themselves in as they pushed on their support to the eventual top flight league title at the start of the 1990s.

The Stranglers, Gig Review. First Direct Arena, Leeds. full post

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

Measuring Up, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Mandy Redvers-Rowe, Rachael Townsend.

Music: Craig Gamble.

Writing is often viewed as glamourous, seductive, an enticing call to a place which calls for awards and the possibility of being able to change people’s minds with a series of taps on a keyboard or a deliberated word which strikes the right note. The art of writing the meaningful prose has brought down governments, brought conflict and peace to lands and made a lover’s heart soar; and yet there are those who believe it is the easiest occupation in the world, for they don’t see the agony, the self-doubt, the moments where the words don’t arise and the long labouring battle that arrives unseen as writer’s block sinks the author of sentences into the abyss.

Measuring Up, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Belinda Carlisle, Gig Review. Symphony Hall, Birmingham.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It takes stamina and fortitude to tame the strength of Runaway Horses, however, on the odd occasion they can also be brought to heel by the grace and beauty of a performance which has never diminished from the first faltering steps and through to the accomplished portrayal of one who has seen and done it all with fire coursing through their veins.

Belinda Carlisle, Gig Review. Symphony Hall, Birmingham. full post

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

The Capture. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Holliday Grainger, Callum Turner, Laura Haddock, Ben Miles, Barry Ward, Ginny Holder, Cavan Clerkin, Ron Perlman, Famke Janssen, Alexander Forsyth, Nigel Lindsay, Ian Pirie, Lia Williams, Paul Ritter, Daisy Waterstone.

The worn out old maxim associated with state surveillance that goes “If you don’t do anything wrong then you have nothing to be concerned about”, has been proven to be a falsehood that has been adopted by the untrustworthy and the cynical on both sides of the political spectrum as absolute mantra, a modern hymn in which to beat the masses into a behaviour pattern to which the instruments and threats of damnation could now only look upon as truly effective and a one true god.

The Capture. Television Review. full post

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

Whitesnake, Slip Of The Tongue. 30th Anniversary Remaster. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The past may be a foreign country, but that does not mean you shouldn’t visit it every now and then to re-evaluate the effect it has had on your present day mood or appreciations; if we left everything only to the ears of audio archaeologists then all our discoveries, all our loves, and sometimes aversions, are only to be interpreted by the sales and the critics words at the time.

Whitesnake, Slip Of The Tongue. 30th Anniversary Remaster. Album Review. full post

(568 words, estimated 2:16 mins reading time)

Joker. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Marc Maron, Frances Conroy, Shae Whigham, Brett Cullen, Douglas Hodge, Dante Pereira-Olson, Bill Camp, Glenn Fleshler, Josh Pais.

If comedy has become a matter for the subjective disguised as hate or even animosity that has been disguised by the mask of envy then so has all art forms, from the video game, to the novel and onwards to the relative study of looking back at an old master’s work of art, for some now is not a means of expression but a chance to decry and even destroy something without really looking at it with an eye of understanding. It is in this that the joke perhaps has become a by-word for abuse, and that the Joker is nothing more than evil dressed up in outlandish rags and a symbol of modern sickness.

Joker. Film Review. full post

(739 words, estimated 2:57 mins reading time)