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Heaven 17, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Glenn Gregory providing Temptation at the o2 Academy, Liverpool. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Originally published by Liverpool Live. October 2012.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

For Heaven 17’s remaining members, to come out on tour and perform the whole of their colossal 1983 hit album, The Luxury Gap, must be a double edged sword. One of the biggest, boldest and outstandingly self-confident albums to come out the Steel city for many years, it deserves to be played in its entirety and there would be no dissenters to this fact.

Heaven 17, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(484 words, 1 image, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Steve Hackett, Genesis Revisited II. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Since Genesis last took to the stage for their 2007 tour, the most productive two members of the stalwarts and guiding lights of Progressive Rock are the two that had left the band in the days before they become the corporate behemoth of the 1980’s and 1990’s.

Peter Gabriel has been busy giving his fans new looks of his back catalogue and inspired readings of other people’s works. Steve Hackett on the other hand has produced more solo work than any other member of one of the U.K.’s favourite Prog acts; he also seems to find time to keep the work of Genesis between 1970 and 1977 very much alive on his keenly anticipated touring schedule.

Steve Hackett, Genesis Revisited II. Album Review. full post

(507 words, 1 image, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)

Peter Gabriel, So. 25th Anniversary Edition Release.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The irony will not be lost on the majority of Peter Gabriel’s fans that it is closer to the 26th anniversary of the release of his fifth studio album So than the 25th and they will also with no hesitation in their voices tell anyone that asks any type of awkward or disparaging question, that in the end it doesn’t matter. This is how Peter Gabriel does things and why he remains one of the most charismatic and unique figures in British music.

Peter Gabriel, So. 25th Anniversary Edition Release. full post

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

Meat Loaf, Bat Out Of Hell. 35th Anniversary Retrospective.

Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman, two artists whose contribution to the world of rock music should under no circumstances ever be dismissed to a mere foot note in the history of popular culture. In the autumn of 1977, they gave the world the first of three albums that were destined to shape a generation.

Meat Loaf’s career may have begun doing the rounds a few years earlier with performances in the musical Hair and with his first album released in 1971, the unremarkable Stoney and Meatloaf but it was his ground-breaking work with Jim Steinman that sent temperatures soaring in the October of the year when Punk was no longer a musical form of expression that could be contained and old Progressive Rock bands were feeling the force of musical rebellion.

Meat Loaf, Bat Out Of Hell. 35th Anniversary Retrospective. full post

(1080 words, 1 image, estimated 4:19 mins reading time)

Deacon Blue, Gig Review. Liverpool Echo Arena.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is something very enjoyable and musically intense about a Deacon Blue concert in Liverpool. Whether it is part of the Liverpool Summer Pops Festival or as part of a national tour in support of a major anniversary, there is always a huge appreciative and very vocal audience that welcomes them to the Liverpool Echo Arena.

Deacon Blue, Gig Review. Liverpool Echo Arena. full post

(427 words, 1 image, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Azadeh, Gig Review. Liverpool Echo Arena.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

To be confirmed as support for a band whose very appearance on any stage in Liverpool can send audiences into a state of apoplexy is a daunting prospect but for young singer/songwriter Azadeh it was just another step on a road that has so far been paved with exquisite and well written music.

Azadeh, Gig Review. Liverpool Echo Arena. full post

(397 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Rita, Sue and Bob Too!, Theatre Review. St. Helens Theatre Royal.

Dannielle Malone, Paul Opacic, Nikki Sanderson in Rita, Sue and Bob Too! Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tina Malone, Nikki Sanderson, Paul Opacic, Dannielle Malone, Mickey Finn, Elyn Kennedy, Paul Malone.

In 2011 Andrea Dunbar’s Rita, Sue and Bob Too! had a sell out run at the St. Helens Theatre Royal, as it comes round again it is easy to see why this portrayal of Margaret Thatcher’s council estate Britain is such a popular and long lasting hit production.

Rita, Sue and Bob Too!, Theatre Review. St. Helens Theatre Royal. full post

(442 words, 1 image, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Clean Cut Kid, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Add a dash of the exotic and mysterious Faroe Islands to a band and already the thought of the type of music you might expect from one of the young groups in the city of Liverpool creating a huge amount of talk, the exceptionally good Clean Cut Kid, and you have a group worthy of taking a huge interest in.

Clean Cut Kid are Jake Ford, Tom Ashbrook, Oliver Hardakre, Michael Halls and Greta Svabo Bech and together they appeared on stage at Leaf ready to win over a new audience and spread the ever growing word on their excellent music.

Clean Cut Kid, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. full post

(427 words, 1 image, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Jez Wing, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool.

Jez Wing at Leaf. Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Jez Wing may have been out of the live music scene in Liverpool for a while now but that should never stop talent, in any shape or form making an impact on a crowd. When you have the aptitude of Jez Wing it is a shame to let it go to waste and thankfully for the music lovers in the city, he chose the perfect time to bring his superb music back to Leaf and a welcoming crowd.

Jez Wing, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. full post

(345 words, 1 image, estimated 1:23 mins reading time)

Ray Davies, Gig Review. Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

There are some musicians who can just stand on the stage and their very presence is enough to send a venue into rapture and unreserved ecstasy. The former lead man of the superb London band The Kinks is one such man and as Ray Davies came on stage to thunderous applause it really felt as though time had been wound backwards to the days when they were one of the most talked of and much loved groups.

Ray Davies, Gig Review. Liverpool Philharmonic Hall full post

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