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Doctor Who: Philip Hinchcliffe Presents, The Devil’s Armada. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, Jamie Newall, Nigel Carrington, Alix Dunsmore, Joe Jameson, Beth Chalmers, Philip Bretherton, Ben Porter, Tim Bentinck.

The world of Doctor Who is seemingly entrenched into two distinct realms of story-telling themes, the historical, whether that comes down to the gothic fancy, the accurate, with the only that those writing about The Doctor can employ a good science-fiction twist too or the warning from the past in which holds a mirror to the present day audience or the category that is so steeped into invention that the monsters come from out of nowhere and place themselves at the very heart of Humanity’s future. Both are equally enthralling, both as enjoyable as its counterpart and yet rarely do the mix well.

Doctor Who: Philip Hinchcliffe Presents, The Devil’s Armada. Audio Drama Review. full post

(515 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell (PS4), Game Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating: 9 out of 10

Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell is a third-person open world action game available from retail stores and for download from the PlayStation Store for the PS4. Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell is a standalone expansion which continues the Saints Row series and is also included in the PS4 release of Saints Row IV: Re-Elected.

Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell (PS4), Game Review. full post

(2818 words, estimated 11:16 mins reading time)

Inge Bremnes, Gig Review. Studio 2, Parr Street, Liverpool (2015).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Inge Bremnes may not seem to be a colossus, a man emulating the Gods of Norse mythology and whose stature comes with accompanying lightening strikes or with Freya’s beguiling charm but when he steps onto the stage a transformation seems to take place, the immensely likeable musician becomes something new, something exciting, and no matter how many times you have the honour of watching him the transformation from the humble to the riveting is rather thrilling and the music even more impressive.

Inge Bremnes, Gig Review. Studio 2, Parr Street, Liverpool (2015). full post

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

James Wyatt, Gig Review. Studio 2, Parr Street, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

A Sunday night in, the chance to rest, perhaps fall asleep in front of the usual television offering that the last day of the week affords, is a tempting offer. The weekend over, the winding down and wrestling with the thoughts of another seven days firmly implanted into the mind, is perhaps unavoidable and yet somewhere along the line, surely that means missing out on something nice, something tangible and with meaning, a sound that is haunting and beautiful, a set of songs in which the musician opens his heart live on stage and lets the words flow meaningful and with honour.

James Wyatt, Gig Review. Studio 2, Parr Street, Liverpool. full post

(465 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

Neal John Oade, Gig Review. Studio 2, Parr Street, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is folk music, then there is the granddaddy of the genre, the music that the immensity of the last 50 years owes as much a debt to the past as we, as listeners, owe the struggles and bravery of musicians such as Woody Guthrie, Ewan MacColl and Hamish Imlach. That granddaddy, the songs of the people in centuries past survive because they have a resonating truth that haunts every generation and stings them into some sort of resistance. The resistance might not take hold or be very strong but they at least leave a tangible fingerprint in which to remind that injustice should not stand.

Neal John Oade, Gig Review. Studio 2, Parr Street, Liverpool. full post

(537 words, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)

Kingsman: The Secret Service, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Taron Egerton, Mark Hamill, Mark Strong, Michael Caine, Sophia Boutella, Jack Davenport, Samantha Womack, Sophie Cookson, Tom Prior, Alisha Heng, Corey Johnson, Hanna Alstrom, Edward Holcroft, Geoff Bell, Lily Travers.

Kingsman: The Secret Service, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(560 words, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

Dead Air

It was only by chance

that in my decreasing state of awareness,

of Morpheus’ gradual tightening grip on the synapses

brain

and the closing down of reason and rational expectation,

that I forgot to switch off the phone

that led to call of desperation being heard.

In the darkness of the winter night,

the shrill of Bell’s worst nightmare

woke me from the deepening fugue and of wrestling dreams

and hazily I crawled,

groped and moaned aloud in ever increasing

volumes

Dead Air full post

(203 words, estimated 49 secs reading time)

Kaiser Chiefs, Gig Review. Echo Arena, Liverpool. (2015).

Kaiser Chiefs, Echo Arena, Liverpool. January 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Not so much as offering a riot or an explosion of epic proportions, what first nights really do after all but The Kaiser Chiefs kicked off their latest tour with some style, much swagger and ultimately thunderous applause from an Echo Arena crowd that had seemingly waited far too long for the band to return to Liverpool.

Kaiser Chiefs, Gig Review. Echo Arena, Liverpool. (2015). full post

(680 words, 1 image, estimated 2:43 mins reading time)

That’s Amore, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Adam Davies, Eleni Edipidi, Jennifer Essex, Ross McCall, Caroline Ryder (voice)

Love is a many splendid thing – it can make the soul rise higher than thought imaginable, it can bring a person down to their knees as the situation of their plight becomes untenable. It can fill the heart with infatuation to the point where boundaries are cross, it can shelter and care for another with absolute clarity. Love takes all that you have and leaves you cold and distant, it makes the world seem a brighter and more approachable place, whatever the outcome, no matter who cupid’s arrow’s decided to strike within, whoever you fall in love with, nobody understands the turmoil and feeling of power you feel at that moment, That’s Amore after all.

That’s Amore, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

The Shortness Of February’s Rage.

You are cold to the touch oh moody one.

You offer so much potential but in your sullen distance

You sometimes forget that you are here to have fun

and a different face to your sister’s bleak resistance.

Like some petulant teenager rebelling against its parents scorn

you rage and blind, leaving a northern blanket of unfathomable white,

screaming to anyone who listens that you wish you’d not been born

and cursing them for their folly as they gaze upon you with hopeful sight.

The Shortness Of February’s Rage. full post

(153 words, estimated 37 secs reading time)