The War On Drugs, Liverpool Academy. February 2015. Photograph by John Johnson.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The audience’s ears would still arguably be ringing days after the event as The War On Drugs assaulted the senses of a rammed Liverpool O2 Academy. Overdriven guitars, FX-laden keyboards and a bass with more bottom end than Loch Ness all contributed to a night of aural frenzy for the 1000 or so that jammed the big room in the venue on Hotham Street.
…and there is no grand gesture of acknowledging the audience’s applause
as the violinist stands perfectly still, watching,
waiting,
for the small, unseen blazing wink
that tells her to slowly, without mercy, break some hearts.
It matters not at all, what the violinist wears, for the assassin’s bow
gently pierces the skin and boils the blood of the victim
and she slowly places the breathe
in play in which the body can bear no longer, the beauty contained within.
The long drawn out note, the gentle scream that drives me mad
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating: * * * * *
Super Stardust Ultra is an arcade twin-stick shooting game available for download from the PlayStation Store for the PS4. The origins of Stardust date back to 1993 when a Finnish studio called Bloodhouse had their first game Stardust published for the Amiga 500, while another Finnish studio called Terramarque had their first game Elfmania published for the Amiga in 1994 with both Finnish studios Bloodhouse and Terramarque joining forces in 1995 to create Housemarque which produced their first game together in 1996 in the form of Super Stardust for the P.C.
Steeleye Span at The Atkinson, Southport. February 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The tag line of the manner of the band may not sit well in some quarters but for others they are the undisputed royalty and arguably pinnacle of the English Folk revival and as the packed out audience at the Atkinson Theatre in Southport came to the very end of the set, the appreciation and acknowledgement of Steeleye Span creativity and fine music was palpable and endearing
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Coleman, Jodie Whittaker, Andrew Buchan, Charlotte Rampling, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Arthur Darvill, Eve Myles, James D’Arcy, Meera Syal, Carolyn Pickles, Jonathan Franks, Tanya Bailey, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, William Andrews, Matthew Gravelle, Lucy Cohu, Shaun Dooley, Adam Wilson, Simone McAullay, Joe Simms, Tom Rosenthal, Hollie Burgess, Lucas Hare.
The penultimate episode of a long running drama is just as important as the bitter conclusion. The viewer has had the set up in the initial opening episode and stayed the course, but if the penultimate instalment doesn’t leave the viewer hanging on the edge of the chair, shouting in frustration, even if they know that answers are never that easy, then all is lost and time and tide wash away the burgeoning expectation and the final reveal is taken away.
I have reached the age in which the first man who made me laugh out loud,
who gave blood, sweat and tears in an effort to defy the wind,
and who by the time I was 14, could quote line for line
in an effort to be allowed to study drama at school,
decided enough was enough,
and wrote, “Things just seemed to go wrong too many times.”,
and took the next boat out to the onward great adventure.
I have reached the age in which twin greats to music were lost
10cc’s Graham Gouldman at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. February 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
For some the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool is a natural home, a place where outstanding music and appreciation go hand in hand; the circle of harmony forever ongoing and in time. Some artists though don’t just make the sound they deliver welcoming to the acoustically acute ears of those that walk through the entrance to the venue on perhaps arguably the most appropriately named street in the city, they give it room to breathe and nestle in the very fabric of the building’s infrastructure; they make it live.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Respect can come in many shapes and forms, some deservedly more so than others and in Dan Patlansky, respect arrives in abundance and leaves the same building swaying under the enormous adulation that has been heaped further still on the Blues guitarist from South Africa. That weighty expectation is further enhanced by the release of the stunning and outrageously gifted latest album Dear Silence Thieves.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Consistency is the hardest of all endeavours. The near creative peak is one that at times can be insurmountable, overwhelmingly impossible to try and surpass and for which even Hannibal on a good day, with elephants and gallons of vinegar in which to destroy a few thousand boulders blocking his way, might think twice before giving up and going home for a plate of cheese and grapes. For the Spirit on a Mission to entertain and thrill still looms large in one of Europe’s greatest Rock God-like figures.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: John Lithgow, Alfred Molina, Marisa Tomei, Darren Burrows, Charlie Tahan, Christina Kirk, Tatyana Zbirovskaya, Olya Zueva, Jason Stuart, Harriet Harris, Cheyenne Jackson, Manny Perez, Jon Cullum, Eric Tabach, Tank Burt, Daphne Gaines, Christopher King, Maryann Urbano, David Bell, Henry Crouch, Dovie Lepore Currin, Jeff Goad, Sebastian La Cause, Christian Coulson, Andrew Polk, Michael J. Burg.