To live and die by numbers,
to be at the mercy of numerical opinion
and the percentage point,
to infer that all is lost upon the raising brow
of the integer and downcast digit,
is surely only adding up
to the fact that we have lost control
of humanity, our human intelligence eroded
by quantity rather than time;
to live and die by the second, to pack things in
to the day rather than be ruled by one to ten,
to live in the moment for as long as possible, stretching it out
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
When all that remains is love, the human heart will feel peace. It is a love that has been kept firmly in the hearts of the tens of thousands of Marillion fans since the first moment they came across the band. When all that remains is love, then the complexity of human emotion can come shining through like the Lighthouse of Alexandria, it is talked of for all time and the beacon searches out both wrecks and salvation alike.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Progressive Rock royalty comes in many different forms, many distinct tastes and moments that in the end the fans list could so wildly dissimilar that they would surely encompass the whole colourful spectrum. It is in the nature of such lists that one name would positively stand out, would always grab the attention of the crowd, Steve Hackett, the quiet man of Progressive Rock but also arguably the most prestigious and creatively entertaining; it is no wonder that he was amongst the headline musicians for the inaugural Stone Free Festival.
Mongrel,
or mixed heritage
invader blood in my heart
conquered and crushed,
victor and heroic warlords
on the battlefield,
the result of taken or ceded
I am a mongrel,
I have no true country
only safe land from water,
only safe land from war,
the grandchild of an immigrant
the grandchild of Cornwall,
potent mix dating back centuries
and now you want me to hate
you want me to condemn
that even my own blood borne out of pillage
and deceit and war and conquered lands,
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There are front men and then there are showmen, there are those that intrigue and those that captivate with their sheer physical presence, Michael Monroe sits firmly in the camp of showmen and captivating and it was a label he was more than happy to play up to with a certain amount of rock regal stance as he strutted upon the Indigo stage at the o2 with a gleaming smile and stone tight good attitude.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
It always feels right to have some Therapy? in your life, it is just a shame that the therapy some need, all they require, is not available upon the N.H.S., if it was there would be a lot more contented people out there. For the therapy they need comes in the shape and form of one of Northern Ireland’s great bands and as they blew away the Indigo Stage on a Saturday afternoon, as they paved the way for the main event in the other hall, the feeling was perhaps they might have been given the chance to really go to town as one of the big four acts inside the o2 Arena.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *
It is hard when you are on the edges, when thrown to the sides like an outcast sat at the city gates, looking for scraps of comfort and knowing that deep down your thoughts are about as welcome as the plague, but as you sit in the far reaches of a gathering and you don’t get the hype, the sentimental leaning of those caught in the whirlwind of supposed excitement at the front of the stage, the slight stance of indifference towards the middle and the abject mind wanderings at the back, that just how you are supposed to feel about The Darkness.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Jared James Nichols, a name to which let the tongue enjoy the sensation of longing, of powerful beginnings and the concept in the mind of just what is to come over the period of time infront of us, for in Mr. Nichols lays the future and he is great company.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
The master looks down from the pulpit on high and sees the heaving throng, the swelling mass of humanity, writhe in a perpetual rhythm before him, and the scene registers visibly as one to make experienced eyes well up with pride. For Alice Cooper, the veteran of the shock rock musical hall extravaganza, this may have been the only performance in the U.K. during the whole of 2016 but it was one that was steeped in glory, in beauty and dripping with excitement from the off.
Today I am uncomfortable
in my own knotted skin,
I don’t know how to react
to the stimuli of life, the poison
I drink in, that I want
to swallow by the lungful, the sea
that I wish to drown in as I sweat,
at the prospect of another day
excusing ghosts of their past,
whilst still condemning myself
to death everyday.
Ian D. Hall 2016