Can I impart
a whispered moment
of exclusive thought to you
my love?
I think
you are so very special,
so out of the ordinary.
Don’t worry,
there is no pressure,
no one will understand,
I am just going
to tell
everyone
that I meet.
Ian D. Hall 2018
Author Archives: admin
By The Waters Of Liverpool, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Roy Carruthers, Emma Dears, Stephanie Dooley, Lynn Francis, Emily Hughes, Maria Lovelady, Nathan McMullen, Mark Moraghan, Danny O’ Brien, Eric Potts.
If not for the glorious sweep of water, arguably the most beguiling and entrancing river in the whole of England, the city of Liverpool would not be same place, carry the same memories and influence its environment as it has since people first settled in the area; the songs, the stories, the lifeblood of the great city stems, ebbs and flows like a giant’s pulse because of the Mersey, and By The Waters Of Liverpool is where all our lives converge and become clear.
Upstart Crow. Series Three, Television Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: David Mitchell, Liza Tarbuck, Paula Wilcox, Harry Enfield, Helen Monks, Gemma Whelen, Tim Downie, Rob Rouse, Mark Heap, Dominic Coleman, Steve Spiers, Spencer Jones, Jocelyn Jee Esien, Adrian Edmondson, Rosanna Beacock, Joe Willis, Beattie Edmondson, Brandon Fellows, Ben Miller, Peter Hamilton Dyer, Ken Nwosu, Nigel Planer.
If there is one thing an audience can count on with Ben Elton, aside from being involved in some of television’s most iconic comedies in the last thirty years, it is his unequalled ability to take a moment and turn it completely on its head and leave you with the feeling of being driven over the edge emotionally, of having the laughter pulled from underneath you and understanding that with great comedy must come empathy and grief in equal measure.
The Puppet Off Her Strings.
Dancing Queen…
so obscene
to behave like you have licked
the cream, whipped
into a frenzy
as you embarrass us
coming to the stage
like the unhinged robot
in a disguise of self-deprecation
as its nuts and bolts come away,
come away,
come away, worked loose,
the puppet without her strings
is on the loose…
oh, may we have this dance
you believe in your head
we requested, and as you
pull another gun from out
of the bra straps, fluffy
Therapy?, Cleave. Album Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision rating 8.5/10
The urge to smite your enemies is a powerful emotion in which some say you must resist, others take the softer approach, the more forgiving road in which the best way to treat those who have done you wrong is to think of their lives and see the problem through their eyes. To cut down and smash your anger aside or to hold close those who seek to destroy you, either way is up to you, but the impulse to Cleave is a craving that is only satisfied with songs of thunder and the rage of lightning surrounding your ears. It is after all, the finest form of Therapy?
Subhasis Bhattacharya, Tablananda. Album Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Without principle, Art is meaningless, even in the rich persuasive power of anarchy, there has to be a semblance of order, a sense of the unique and enlightening; for if there is no educational, instructive Progressive suggestion then there cannot be a world, however brief, of harmony.
It is in the unexpected harmony of the logical progression of sound that a type of anarchy exists as arguably the foremost Tabla players of his generation, Subhasis Bhattacharya, brings his latest creation, Tablananda, to the ears of an audience who adores him, and the surprising fresh and distinctive style in which will undoubtedly charm new appreciation from those who have not been introduced to this persuasive and principled discipline of music.
Marissa Nadler, For My Crimes. Album Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
There should be no offence taken, no reason in which the past cannot forgive the indiscretions of youth and whilst we must all account for the wrongdoings, the possible law-breaking we have committed, none of us can judge without admitting in person and with hand on heart, For My Crimes, I understand yours.
Beyond Belief, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Adam Davies, Elani Edipidi, Jennifer Essex, Charles Sandford.
It is a dream of many, a fantasy in which the body, the mind, lives on forever. The notion that we can somehow conquer time, that we can endure the ravages of disease, ageing, war and eventual death, and see the future unfold, all the advancements, the hope of peace, the continuing cycle of our offspring with no repercussions, just a state of bliss, the heart endlessly beating, the mind forever wondering.
A Final Discarding Of Faith.
Her fingers clicked
through the beads, one
by one, a silent prayer in progress
as the bus grunted in disjointed answer
to her hope of forgiveness and eyes
staring penance.
Her gaze never wavering from the unfolding
scene of life, horror in her mind
as I saw only animated Time.
Unseen
to me, something must have caught her eye
and slowly, with pain etched deep
in her face and a tear forming,
she put down her faith
and forfeited the remainder
of the journey, taking flight
Matt Breen, All The Time. Single Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
For all the intrusiveness and demands that the internet makes on our time, it has one great, thankfully creative good in which it cannot be faulted; the knowledge that a musician that you have seen grow and loved, and despite distance, can still make an appearance on your computer device of truth and thrill you with their latest creation.