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Arkham Karvers, Gig Review. Zanzibar, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

As the temperature rises in Liverpool and fully announces that Britain is going to at least have some sort of summer in 2013 and the heat increases at Wimbledon to fever pitch levels, those two elements feel like a cold winters day compared to the music that has been generated by the bands in Zanzibar which has been slowly going off the scale.

Chief amongst these was Arkham Karvers whose polished and wild set was not only a joy to take in but as they hit the ground running with the blistering opener Heisenberg, the stage was set for a new set of hero’s to burn themselves into the hearts of those attending the evening’s Hunger Games session at Zanzibar.

Arkham Karvers, Gig Review. Zanzibar, Liverpool. full post

(331 words, estimated 1:19 mins reading time)

Path Unknown, Gig Review. Zanzibar, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The name of the band may be Path Unknown but since their debut gig at the O2 Academy in January of this year, the course they have been on, the direction they are treading has been ever upwards and quite rightly so. This is no way an unknown path, this is one that is very well thought out and performed so well that in seven short months the band has already made several inspired moves sound wise. From being good and ones to watch at The Academy, to slap me sideways with a cold halibut excellent takes quality, hubris and a dedication in achieving the best, all this has been realised.

Path Unknown, Gig Review. Zanzibar, Liverpool. full post

(365 words, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

Nighthowl, Gig Review. Camp And Furnace, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Liverpool in the sunshine, for that matter in any weather, is a wondrous place and when the music gets its look in the summer haze it becomes even more special. The sense of history that emanates across the city is captured in how music can appear seemingly anywhere, from somebody picking up a guitar and heading down to the docks and giving the visitors an extra reason for enjoying their day out or even when it features heavily at a craft fair in a building that not long ago was more suited the grind, dirt and steel, the imagery of the dark satanic mills never too far away.

Nighthowl, Gig Review. Camp And Furnace, Liverpool. full post

(343 words, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

Gary Edward Jones, Gig Review. Camp and Furnace, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Camp and Furnace in Liverpool is an open secret, those that know about this charming cultural hive of activity cannot get enough of it and its industrial past, the relic of an industrial revolution that has gone beyond the thought of dirt, disease and dark satanic mills and has become a place of beauty. It is also a great place in which to catch live acoustic music and the slight nod to the electric.

Gary Edward Jones, Gig Review. Camp and Furnace, Liverpool. full post

(392 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Hugh Cornwell, Gig Review. The Citadel, St. Helens.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Hugh Cornwell is a name that so many have grown up with. No matter the age of the listener, it seems his own solo career and his lengthy time with The Stranglers has touched people’s music conscious and keeps on doing so. No small wonder that the man seems to get more and more enjoyment from coming out on stage, even if he doesn’t say so, his body language speaks volumes as he trades notes and the odd smile with the audience.

Hugh Cornwell, Gig Review. The Citadel, St. Helens. full post

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

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Saturday Supplement, An Interview With Laura-Kate Barrow Of LadyParts Theatre.

Cafe 81 on Renshaw Street at opening time is an oasis of calm and the perfect place it seems to meet writer and theatre maker Laura-Kate Barrow. The venue had recently played a part in Laura’s quiet determination to bring more theatre to Liverpool and especially to showcase more parts for women, a situation that still sees acting roles still predominantly written for men but something that Laura is keen to address. Over the sounds of fresh tea being made and the clamour for attention from the great staff inside Cafe 81 I get to ask this young woman about the 24 hour project in which Assemble was the end result and her up-coming play Bump.

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Saturday Supplement, An Interview With Laura-Kate Barrow Of LadyParts Theatre. full post

(1342 words, estimated 5:22 mins reading time)

Heaven’s Basement, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The walls at the o2 Academy have seen some incredible acts in the long years that it has stood on Hotham Street, it has held those memories within its brickwork and steel framing for so long that perhaps it is unsurprising that those reminiscences, the ghosts of fantastic sessions decided to come out of the stonework, to bleed themselves out and drench the audience in sweat at the outstanding and ear obliterating concert given by Heaven’s Basement.

Heaven’s Basement, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(490 words, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

Buffalo Summer, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Wales has always managed to hold onto its musical secrets until the right time comes along to unleash them upon the world in a blaze of Welsh pride, especially its rock groups. The Alarm, Manic Street Preachers, The Reasoning and The Stereophonics all have become household names over the decades not just in their home country but across the River Severn and through the mountains and hills of the North and invaded the collective music thought of the neighbours in England.

Buffalo Summer, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(362 words, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

Skarlett Riot, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Some people kick off their weekend by taking off their work shoes slumping infront of the television for the night and only moving again when the television reception goes wonky. Others will be more adventurous and make their way into town and watch television on a big screen as Wimbledon reaches its climax. For some though the chance to take in some music, to find an oasis in a desert, is too compelling an opportunity to mess with and as Skarlett Riot entered the fray at the O2 Academy to a crowd that was already in love with them after catching the foursome finish their warm-up, there may as well have been a big sign stamped on the wall saying, your weekend starts here, rock your heart out and enjoy!

Skarlett Riot, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(392 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

A Thousand Murdered Girls, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Maria Hutchison, Rachael Boothroyd, Katy Brown, Kitty Spathia, Valerio Lusito, Arancha Herreruelo-Alonso, Emma Segar, Keelin Sweeney, Alun Parry, Alan Bower, Adam Byrne, Tony Davies, Louise Garcia, Gillian Peterson-Fox.

Every so often the sound of three gunshots echoes around the Unity Theatre. The effect it has on the audience is one that is just as chilling on the soul as the realisation that what the writer Darren Guy and Director Mikyla Jane Durkan have put together is so rooted in Greek history that as an audience member it’s possible to feel shame for the lack of knowledge you have as the true story of the many women arrested and tortured in Greece after World War Two for the crime of fighting Fascism and Nazism.

A Thousand Murdered Girls, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(451 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)