Author Archives: admin

Made Your Resolutions Yet?

Made your resolutions yet?

I once vowed to not

eat fish for a year

after hearing that cod was running out; I missed

the taste of battered flesh

and the vinegar that splashed

over spiky remains.

Why wait till December 31st,

this new year, new you bollocks…

if you really wanted to change,

you wouldn’t wait a month.

 

Ian D. Hall 2016

Permanent link to this post (65 words, estimated 16 secs reading time)

Rain, Ten Belters & A Slow One. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

When they don’t let you take advantage of your first chance, the second stab at showing the world your words not only has to be taken, it has grabbed, slung over the shoulder and held so tightly that nobody can ever wrestle it of you. It requires love, attention and the spite to spit in the faces of all the detractors and those that dare raise their eyebrows in mock derision and painful excuses; wherever the Rain may fall, is not usually the sign of a flood but of the green and well thought of lawn, of the return of one of Liverpool’s much admired bands.

Rain, Ten Belters & A Slow One. Album Review. full post

(386 words, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)

China.

The pain was intense,

meant that I dropped the plate

that I was carrying

and it split into three large

china fragments

and small dust pieces,

like the first split in the land mass

of Pangea, never again fitting.

I screamed but no one was there

in the virtual world

and nobody cared in mine,

silence after the final shattering

realisation that I am on my own,

as we all are

when we break the china plate.

 

Ian D. Hall 2016

China. full post

(84 words, estimated 20 secs reading time)

Kangarilla Pig, Gig Review. Hanger 34, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

A strong heart, a powerful stance and a set list you could ask out for dinner and watch it devour the entire meat section with passion in its eyes and a drool forming on your lips, it might have only been the fourth time that Kangarilla Pig have performed live as a unit but the steam, the energy they give off is enough to make both the Flying Scotsman and the and Rajadhani Express seethe with jealousy and their drivers ask for the number of their coal supplier.

Kangarilla Pig, Gig Review. Hanger 34, Liverpool. full post

(419 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

Little Red And The Big Bad Wolf, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Natalie Campbell, Simone Lewis, Harvey Robinson, Luca Rutherford.

Every show at this time of year is special, it the one that can bring families together, that good will is truly spread with and the one that children get their first taste of the uniqueness of drama to express emotion, the much used phrase magic of the theatre is not wrong when it comes to this special time of year, as each wide eyed child, each grinning parent could attest to in the Unity Theatre’s fabulous show for 2016, Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf.

Little Red And The Big Bad Wolf, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(390 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Class, Series One. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Katherine Kelly, Greg Austin, Sophie Hopkins, Fady Elsayed, Vivian Oparah, Jordan Renzo, Pooky Quesnal, Aaron Neil, Paul Marc Davies, Shannon Murray, Ben Peel, Anna Shaffer, Con O’Neil, Nigel Betts, Peter Capaldi.

In a television programme that has spanned over 50 years, to not expect the occasional spin off would be folly, both commercially and in the interests of expanding that institution’s universe. Doctor Who, certainly since it re-emerged on the nation’s screens back in 2005, has been ripe for spin offs and the magic was kept alive by the sentiment surrounding the much loved Elizabeth Sladen as one of the most adored companions of the classic series and it was only right that she finally had her own series in the Sarah Jane Adventures.

Class, Series One. Television Review. full post

(432 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

Scent.

As I lean in, unwashed

in aftershave, I kiss your neck

gently, the barest brush of lips

on your scented neck

and I hesitate

briefly,

my breathing becomes shallow,

almost spectre like, ghost patterned

as I become intoxicated by your presence

and I leave my senses behind;

slow,

slowly

I summon the courage

to ask you

if you would like to

dance.

Ian D. Hall 2016

Permanent link to this post (68 words, estimated 16 secs reading time)

Rain, Gig Review. Hanger 34, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Rain may fall, it is inevitable as a hose pipe ban as soon as the Sun comes out of its Spring shell or a whitewash in the media when it comes to glorifying the achievements of any town or city anywhere outside of London, especially when it the capital-centric bogyman city of Liverpool; the slight tinge of jealousy that always emanates from the so called corridors of power and the decision makers who somehow determine what is the in thing to chase. Rain may fall but Rain, even after a quarter of a century, can still taste sweet in the British Winter and Rain is always worth chanting for.

Rain, Gig Review. Hanger 34, Liverpool. full post

(439 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Roseville, Gig Review. Hanger 34, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

When there is a return to the stage in the offering of a former set of princes, you have to also watch who they surround themselves with to get the full picture of the expectation attached.

Supporting a band like Rain is not easy, in many ways it could be said that being support to legends such as Space, Amsterdam or The Icicle Works would be an easier task despite their longevity and huge modern following; in Rain, to know where to start is complicated and yet the night was made easy by the overflowing of love that had been storing up for a quarter of a century, for that Midland’s band Roseville made quite an impression and it was one that can only grow itself in anticipation as well.

Roseville, Gig Review. Hanger 34, Liverpool. full post

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