Author Archives: admin

Football Is F***** Again.

Revolutions have fought over less

and the French aristocrat, the English Knight and the

descendent of Mohammed agree on one thing,

the corruption of the battle field must be cleansed

and fire stormed right down its roots

and if takes the Marshal in his white Stetson and polished badge,

his deputies rooting through the rubbish of thirty

years of wasteland dust and paper trails that lead to one

man dressed in black and spouting his own gospel charm,

to help them bring down the despot of the so called

Football Is F***** Again. full post

(278 words, estimated 1:07 mins reading time)

Paul McCartney, Gig Review. Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The love you take is equal to the love you make” sang McCartney’s sampled voice, mixed with some beats by the support DJ. It brought to an end the pre-show photo montage, which was accompanied by some fairly entertaining remixes of classic tracks.

Eschewing standard practice of the star following the rest of the band, Paul McCartney shuffled onto the empty stage alone, holding his signature Hofner bass…to a massive roar of the crowd, naturally. This humble manner was evident throughout the show. His in-between song banter is stilted and almost bashful; the polar opposite to his arguably over-rehearsed, P.R. style interview technique. McCartney realises that in the live situation, he doesn’t have to indulge in long introductions or throw rock star shapes. Rather, his astounding back catalogue does the talking and is actually the real star of the show.

Paul McCartney, Gig Review. Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham. full post

(621 words, estimated 2:29 mins reading time)

Spin Doctors, Songs From The Road. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

For anybody who was in the New York area in the early 1990s and got the hear the seminal live grooves of the album Pocketful of Kryptonite as well as the righteous tones of Blues songs that were ahead of their time by around a decade, the Spin Doctors were a class act to watch and listen to.

Spin Doctors, Songs From The Road. Album Review. full post

(475 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Wily Bo Walker And E. D. Brayshaw, Stone Cold Beautiful. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is no doubting that many artists do put a lot of thought into the naming of a body of work, some though leave you scratching your head as if the meaning is lost, perhaps even translated wrong between your language and the utter gibberish that has placed itself onto the sleeve as if waiting for someone, anyone, to get the joke.

Wily Bo Walker And E. D. Brayshaw, Stone Cold Beautiful. Album Review. full post

(417 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

Take A Letter.

There is a certain romance lost

when a communication comes out of the blue,

the modern love of the instant message received and crossed

is nothing to having a significant day made superior by a letter from you.

 

The hand writing, sincere, legible and carefully written,

has been pondered over, adjusted and cleaned by scraps

of paper unseen left by her own bin, tossed in by anguished hand and nail bitten

fingers as she gropes for the right, beautiful word, outlined by doodled maps.

 

Take A Letter. full post

(157 words, estimated 38 secs reading time)

Indomador: Animal Religion, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Physical Fest, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Quim Giron

Humanity’s relationship with the animal kingdom has often been questioned many times since we, as species, first took to the practice of farming. By rearing these animals as a food source then breeding, studying and at times corrupting the very nature of that relationship by using science in the laboratory, that association has become one of dominance and at times sheer brutality. It is that hybrid dance between human and animal which makes for great physical theatre and at times the sense of the uncomfortable at this year’s Physical Fest at the Unity Theatre in Indomador: Animal Religion.

Indomador: Animal Religion, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Physical Fest, Liverpool. full post

(446 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

A Brief Return For The Exiled Daughter Of Pharaohs.

The old scribe, worn out by years of writing

down the thoughts of kings and masters, of stable hands and squires,

the relentless drives of the damned and the dead, finally

finds solace in a discreet request from the much loved

daughter of Pharaohs  to meet by the banks of the Nile as

she slips into the country unnoticed by spies

as she ends her long self imposed exile which had left

the country in tatters and the old scribe with no patron

or friend.

 

A Brief Return For The Exiled Daughter Of Pharaohs. full post

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

The Theme, Hits The Sky. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Listening to The Theme’s Hits The Sky, the feeling of infectious delight washes over you to the point where you have to start looking through the yellow pages or asking your G.P. where the nearest place is to share the sheer joy of listening to one of the most remarkable bands to come out of the London area in many years.

The Theme, Hits The Sky. E.P. Review. full post

(334 words, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

Chelsey Chambers, I’m Falling. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

When it comes to a voice, one that shoots straight like a burning arrow through the defences of the unexpected and the unfashionably unknowing, Chelsey Chambers has the route from bow to target mapped out and is swift in the delivery.

Chelsey Chambers, I’m Falling. E.P. Review. full post

(384 words, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

Gotham, Series One. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9.5/10

Cast: Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue, Erin Richards, Robin Lord Taylor, David Mazouz, Zabryna Guevara,  Sean Pertwee, Camren Bicondova, Cory Michael Smith, Victoria Cartagena, Andrew Stewart-Jones, John Doman, Jada Pinkett Smith, Nick D’Agosto, Morena Baccarin, Chelsea Spack, Richard Kind, Clare Foley, Carol Kane, Peter Scolari, Milo Ventimiglia, Julian Sands.

Gotham, Series One. Television Review. full post

(678 words, estimated 2:43 mins reading time)