Author Archives: admin

And Then There Were None, Theatre Review. Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Paul Nicholas, Colin Buchanan, Susan Penhaligon, Mark Curry, Verity Rushworth, Frazer Hines, Ben Nealon, Eric Carte, Judith Rae, Paul Hassall, Jan Knightley.

Justice, it should be seen as being above all. The knowledge that justice must not only be done but seen to be done is the overriding factor in any democratic society. What happens when justice is served by an unhinged mind? The reasons of impartiality become skewed and twisted and whilst it gets the job of retribution done, the voyeuristic viewer becomes entangled in the right of death debate too closely.

And Then There Were None, Theatre Review. Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton. full post

(529 words, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)

36 Crazyfists, Time And Trauma. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Everything in life comes down to two subjects, sex and death. For the witty, taxes comes into the equation as a means of pointing out that everything alive between finding a lover and the point of ultimate demise is just basically because everybody is out to take advantage of you. In amongst it all though is the somehow forgotten entity of Time. Sex and death may be the two romantic visions that a poet will surreptitiously weave into a new sonnet and mentally ask their readers to gouge out the sentiments tied up within, but Time is ever present and demands more than the other state of affairs put together.

36 Crazyfists, Time And Trauma. Album Review. full post

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

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Sunday Supplement, An Interview With Angela Simms. (2015).

Angela Simms has come so far in what seems such a short space of time. Undoubtedly one of the bright young things of Liverpool theatre comedy, her performances in productions such as in the superb If The Shoe Fits, Ladies Day, Special Measures, The Hitchhikers Guide To Fazakerley and The Rainbow Connection, have had audiences flocking to see more of this talented and approachable Liverpool actor.

From working with the gifted Donna Lesley Price and Richie Grice in the superb If The Shoe Fits, to performing at the Royal Court Theatre, Angela Simms has captivated audiences with a seamless elegance intertwined an a great aptitude to her craft and boundless energy.

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Sunday Supplement, An Interview With Angela Simms. (2015). full post

(1286 words, estimated 5:09 mins reading time)

Sentenced To Life.

You were the thrill of a childhood wrapped in sickness.

Months of endless childhood complaint

in which the hero and heroine captivated me and in which an adventure

was of my own undertaking.

A bout of Bronchitis, battled on one side like a punch bag

with its stuffing flowing out onto the cold gymnasium floor,

the victor raising his hands in mocking tones

high above my head and placing the sickly taste of camphor oil

on harsh felt pillow and scratchy woollen blankets and taunting me

with the knowledge that as I grew older I would not

Sentenced To Life. full post

(359 words, estimated 1:26 mins reading time)

Kaiser Chiefs, Gig Review. Civic Hall, Wolverhampton.

Kaiser Chiefs at the Civic Hall, Wolverhampton. February 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Arena tours are all well and good but on the odd occasion, to take a step away from the big swirling spaces and resonating echoes that the big halls can provide with serial relish, and to come to a venue steeped in musical history in the Midlands and remains captivatingly one of the best for atmosphere and crowd enjoyment, the Kaiser Chiefs hit the Wolverhampton Civic Hall with so much ammunition, so much energy, that the only surprise was the building and the audience were left intact at the end.

Kaiser Chiefs, Gig Review. Civic Hall, Wolverhampton. full post

(514 words, 1 image, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Blind Guardian, Beyond The Red Mirror. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Proof, if proof were needed, that the vast array of Metal, in which ever guise or sub genre it takes, is in such a healthy state of mind as soon as you go past Dover and head east, south or across the North Sea to Scandinavia is to found in the latest album by German Metal Kings Blind Guardian, the sensational Beyond the Red Mirror.

Blind Guardian, Beyond The Red Mirror. Album Review. full post

(586 words, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

Pass The Parcel

Whatever happened to jelly and ice cream?

On any child’s birthday the sound of screams and ripping paper

as the parcel gets torn hurriedly with glee across a new seam

and the children’s delight at the once yearly caper.

What happened to children being given what they need,

with one really great present making them smile till Christmas

instead of cutting open a money tree and watching it bleed,

the politics of early consumerism driven in early on mass?

It is as if as a society we have said that yes the children our future,

Pass The Parcel full post

(158 words, estimated 38 secs reading time)

Julian Cope, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Julian Cope at The Epstein Theatre in Liverpool 5th February 2015 photograph David Munn. www.davidmunn.co.uk.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

When you come home, or at least the place that loves you like no other, then you are allowed to be yourself and be rewarded with affection, the hearty laugh and the biggest, most heartfelt slap on the back imaginable. For Julian Cope, a son of the Midlands, a musician who just knows instinctively how to write songs that captures essence and stirs emotions, is more welcome in Liverpool than the sight of a European Cup Final Trophy atop of Red Rum and at the Epstein Theatre, that essence came out of the pumped out mists and gave the packed out audience an evening in which no one would have left with anything but gladdened heart.

Julian Cope, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(584 words, 2 images, estimated 2:20 mins reading time)

Mike Grogan, Make Me Strong. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

In the darkest moments we all need to be held. It is the basic principle of humanity, to feel compassion, to understand that it is not a weakness to show concern for another or even basic kindness to one who has done you wrong in thought or deed. To be able to do so is to show strength and it doesn’t manifest itself enough in what has become at times an intolerant and growing steadily selfish society.

Mike Grogan, Make Me Strong. Album Review. full post

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

The Bitter Beast Of Jealousy.

Seeing you was the only time in my life

that I ever felt the pang,

of what I was gleefully told by my best friend, was jealousy.

For two weeks you burned me up inside and the heat

was intense and stupid and it took me that fortnight to teach me

a lesson, of what is the point of the crippling state of mind

that passes itself off as an emotion;

but is just the pre-curser to slavery.

We had dated, indeed continued to do so,

The Bitter Beast Of Jealousy. full post

(431 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)