First puiblished by Ace Magazine on line. June 2014.
In the end it came down to two moments in which Luis Suárez, the talisman of Liverpool, shined brighter than anything else on the field. Two moments in which genuine class showed and in which he joined the likes of Beckenbauer, Cruyff and Pele as reasons to admire him as a footballer, even if some of more personal habits leave a sour taste in the mouth.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Simon Wan, Tina Malone.
The richness of Liverpool’s cultural heritage is forever blessed because of every single person that has made their way to Liverpool. No matter how far, no matter the reason, like New York, it is a city built upon the history of strangers coming from far afield and giving a little piece of their home. That history inspires, it moulds an area and its people and yet occasionally the lives that have been touched by meeting somebody new is destroyed by ill thinking by Government agreements.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The turning of the year, perhaps in some ways even more important, more evocative to those who live by the natural setting of the Sun than the human construct of December 31st and January 1st, the day when for those in the North; the clock starts to slide towards the darkness once more. The minutes start to chip away from both ends until the chaotic beauty of the world becomes shrouded in darkness for a few months.
Spending time listening to acclaimed songwriter Alan O’ Hare talk is one of those great pleasures in life. Passionate about his craft, the city of Liverpool, justice, truth and making sure people understand what Liverpool means as a place of music and art, Alan O’ Hare gives forthright answers with absolute honesty and candour.
Having crafted ten incredible songs for the new album From Muddy Water To Higher Ground at Crosstown Records with Million-selling producer Jon Lawton, Alan O’ Hare is entitled to feel relaxed and content with life if he so wishes but there is a tremendous feel to the man’s world that suggests seismic change, the ability that erupts from under the surface of a very talented wordsmith is never far from exploding and taking down viable targets with it.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, Laura Dern, Sam Trammell, Mike Birbiglia, Lotte Verbeek, Willem Dafoe, Milica Govich, David Whalen, Ana Dela Cruz, Emily Peachey, Emily Bach.
It is rare, actually arguably near impossible, to find a film so heart-warming and yet so completely devastating at the same time. The dichotomy of the love that you feel for the two main characters trying its best to cope with the tears you feel running down your face in the type of constant movement that the M25 would love to be able to achieve on a Friday night during Rush Hour. Yet the dichotomy exists in stunning equal measure and creates a harmony of emotion that you just have to live with or ignore, there is no other way to handle The Fault In Our Stars than by giving in to it completely and utterly.
Amy Bielizna of Selfish Lovers at the Zanzibar, Liverpool. June 2014. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The close, muggy feeling of trapped heat that enveloped the city of Liverpool, heat which made normally persistent shadows perspire with sweat and groan under the Sun’s blessed fury would normally eat into the energy reserves of anybody finding themselves out and about on a June day. For some artists an understanding audience would forgive and forget if they gave a slightly subdued performance because of it, However inside the Zanzibar Club, the members of Selfish Lovers gave an altruistic performance which jumped off the stage and straight into the welcoming arms of a relieved audience.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, Michael Lomenda, Vincent Piazza, Christopher Walken, Renée Marino, Kathrine Narducci, Lou Volpe, Freya Tingley, Grace Kelley, Elizabeth Hunter, Mike Doyle, Rob Marnell, Johnny Cannizzaro, Donnie Kehr, Jeremy Luke, Joey Russo, James Madio, Erica Piccininni, Steve Schirripa, Barry Livingston, Miles Aubrey, Kim Gatewood, Jackie Seiden, Kyli Rae, Troy Grant, Heather Ferguson Pond, John Griffin, Chaz Langley.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Radicalism is not dead, no matter how hard some may try to bang another nail into the coffin of much needed change, the young of today keep finding a voice and it is a voice that needs urgently to be listened to. Like the music that sprang forth with the likes of the great Pauline Black and Coventry band The Selecter or The Specials, if you refuse to listen, if you lock your door and hideaway behind the thought that all is cosy in the world, then the shock of superbly interesting lyrics and great musicianship that comes out Liverpool band Bolshy and their E.P. RADICAL. ANARCHIC. BOLSHY. SCOUSE might just make you change your mind and actually listen and get your mind out of the television schedules.
Originally published by Ace Magazine, Liverpool online June 2014.
Every World Cup needs a villain, in the same way that hundreds of Pantomimes up and down the country require a Captain Hook, a wicked witch or rampaging giant or a Government finds it essential to for its people to fear another country somewhere in the world, so the football World Cup necessitates that a player must be the man that the negativity surrounds itself around. From Antonio Ubaldo Rattín in 1966, Harold Shumaker and his rather disgraceful pole axing attempt on Patrick Battiston, Diego Maradona and the scandal that surrounded 1994 and for England fans his flagrant handball in Mexico in 1986, Zinedine Zidane and his over the top reaction and even England’s own David Beckham in 1998 against Argentina, the fan always loves a villain.
The Everyman has been announced as a winner in the 2014 Royal Institute of British Architects Awards (RIBA) National Award, the most rigorously-judged awards for architectural excellence. The winners go forward for consideration for the Stirling Award shortlist, which will be announced on 17th July.
Since it opened in March, the Everyman has already won the RIBA North West Building of the Year at the regional round in April. RIBA states that the National Award winning buildings ‘set the standard for good architecture; these are projects that go beyond the brief and exceed the client’s expectation’.