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Northern Broadsides Commemorates The First World War Centenary With An August Bank Holiday Lark At The Playhouse.

Northern Broadsides are set to commemorate the centenary of the start of the First World War with the world premiere of Deborah McAndrew’s moving new play An August Bank Holiday Lark, coming to the Liverpool Playhouse from Tuesday 29th April to Saturday 3rd May.

Taking its title from a line in Philip Larkin’s poem MCMXIV, An August Bank Holiday Lark explores the impact of the First World War on a rural community in East Lancashire. Set in the idyllic summer of 1914, the play charts the preparations and celebrations of the Rushbearing Festival, featuring – in true Broadsides’ style – music, song and dance, clogs and Morris Dancing.

Northern Broadsides Commemorates The First World War Centenary With An August Bank Holiday Lark At The Playhouse. full post

(370 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

The Double, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn, Noah Taylor, Rade Serbedzija, Yasmin Paige, James Fox, Phyllis Somerville, J. Mascis, Sally Hawkins, Cathy Moriarty, Chris O’Dowd, Paddy Considine, Chris Morris, Georgie-May Tearle, Craig Roberts.

What happens when your worst enemy is you? Not psychologically, at least not in the beginning but you, your face is their face, your life is slowly becoming their life and no matter what you do, your existence is being erased, you become even more of a non-entity, a being of such unimportance that people forget your name when they shake your hand, would you fight back to restore your individuality and own self-worth? This is the problem facing the superb Jesse Eisenberg in Richard Ayoade’s dark, almost 1984 like black comedy The Double.

The Double, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T, Liverpool. full post

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

Noah, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Anthony Hopkins, Douglas Booth, Leo McHugh Carroll, Frank Langella, Dakota Goyo, Marton Csokas, Madison Davenport, Nick Nolte, Mark Margolis, Kevin Durand, Nolan Gross, Adam Griffith, Gavin Casalegno, Skylar Burke

It seems odd that it has taken this long to make a film about one of patriarchs and prophets of Judaism and Christianity when so many others have been touched upon in one way or another since the early days of cinema. For a film titled Noah it is going to be hard for many to get past the big elephant in the ark, as well as all the snakes and the odd Silverback Gorilla. It’s going to take willpower for some not to let a great story get in the way of something so old and too some so sacred.

Noah, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T, Liverpool. full post

(506 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

Kalandra, Gig Review. L.I.P.A, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision 9/10

Whether you like your music to be organic, to have flowed from the streets that straddle the River Mersey in some age old ritual acknowledgement to the flower and testimony of Liverpool upbringing or to have had the chance to have been guided and nurtured to hone the craft of writing, what you cannot fail to miss is the passion that flows through each tempting note of either camp.

Kalandra, Gig Review. L.I.P.A, Liverpool. full post

(483 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

All Change.

Reminding me

of temptation accompanying the draught of a

Trans-Pennine non-stop

 through Stalybridge Station, she drifted

 past.

 I stood still, watching the clock

 taunt my expected departure time;

 standing in line for a seat on the next one,

haunted by the

last.

Ian Miller  2014

Permanent link to this post (47 words, estimated 11 secs reading time)

Molotov Jukebox, Gig Review. The Kazimier, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The Kazimier could not have anticipated what lay in store. Elements of Gypsy Jazz and Swing backed by Latin beats with a thundering bass, Ska influenced guitar, Samba and Mariachi style trumpeting and what can only be describes as shredding violin combined to produce an awe inspiring sound that shook the rafters and the audience in equal measure. Molotov Jukebox’s long awaited L.P. Carnival Flower was released in the last week and if the second gig following the release at Liverpool’s Kazimier was anything to go by it will see the band soar to the heights they truly deserve. The album speaks for itself but where Molotov Jukebox shines is in the vibrant and electric energy they bring to their live performance ensuring fans will leave the venue short of breath and grinning from ear to ear.

Molotov Jukebox, Gig Review. The Kazimier, Liverpool. full post

(519 words, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

10cc’s Graham Gouldman To Perform At The Epstein Theatre This May.

Due to the success of 2013’s Heart Full of Songs tour, 10cc’s Graham Gouldman is set to hit the road again this spring with 20 intimate concerts across the country, which includes Liverpool’s Epstein Theatre on Thursday 29th May. The band features fellow 10cc band member Mike Stevens and Iain Hornal.

Anyone attending a 10cc concert in recent years will likely have witnessed the sublime acoustic opening set, featuring Gouldman and the guys performing some of the hits he penned for other artists. The success of these opening sets encouraged Gouldman to take the idea one step further and Heart Full of Songs became a stand-alone acoustic entity.

10cc’s Graham Gouldman To Perform At The Epstein Theatre This May. full post

(486 words, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

After What Comes Before. Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: David Cartwright, Sam Berrill, Alex Monk.

Not many evenings starts with three scientists arguing over the relative value of being able to extract the thought processes and the sometimes synaptic misfires in which hold the key to every person’s desires and ills. However Manic Chord Theatre, by intelligent word play and the same insane careful design attributed to the formation of random events that make life in the Universe possible, are able to show in 55 minutes just exactly what happens when you begin to think outside of the box in their play After What Comes Before.

After What Comes Before. Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(420 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

Batman: Haunted Knight, Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It’s hard to imagine any superhero in the Marvel Universe having the same type of intrigue and fascination with Halloween as D.C. Comic’s biggest hero Batman does. Indeed across every spectrum and genre no other title perhaps lends itself more to the crazy upside world of the night than the Dark Knight.  In a collection of three different one shot Halloween special stories by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, under the one title of Batman: Haunted Knight, the complicated relationship he has with the day is one that captures the imagination but also the fixation, the near fixation he has in dealing with those who bring harm to Gotham City is at near psychosis levels.

Batman: Haunted Knight, Graphic Novel Review. full post

(495 words, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

John Bassett, Unearth. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

For a musician who creates the most beautiful sounding compositions with KingBathmat, the chance to really let go and release an album of his own work must have always been nagging at the back of his head and now John Bassett has the chance to impress completely with his debut album Unearth.

Impressed might be too strong a word to bandy around, it gives rise to the thought of confetti being thrown at a wedding or celebration or the first sight of fireworks that cling to the midnight sky high above Sydney as the clocks click over into a new year, perhaps captivated and enthralled would be better, for that is the feeling you get when listening to Unearth for the first and subsequent times.

John Bassett, Unearth. Album Review. full post

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