Author Archives: admin

U.F.O, Gig Review. o2 Academy Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Originally published by L.S. Media. December 5th 2010.

For the best part of the last 40 years U.F.O. have been one of definitive names of the British Rock and Heavy Metal. They are consistent in their approach to studio albums and the energy they thrive upon is all laid out before them whenever they do a tour or show.

The band opened up a night of pulsating, ear drum splitting music with Saving Me from 2009’s The Visitation. This was the bands 20th studio album and on the evidence of the night’s performance, they show no sign of slowing down and calling it a day.

U.F.O, Gig Review. o2 Academy Liverpool. full post

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

The Human League, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. December 7th 2010.

To many, one of the stand out bands of the early 1980’s was The Human League. Genre defining and one of the early exponents of the slick style of video that the decade produced in abundance. Their music was considered much loved and has been parodied lovingly in certain advertisements since their early heyday.

The Human League, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

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

No Wise Men, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. December 9th 2010.

Cast: Helen Carter, Annabelle Dowler, Javier Marzan, John Nicholson, Clare Thomson, Milo Twomey.

Take a pinch of Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life, mix it up with lashings of Hans Christian Anderson’s tale of The Little Match Girl and add the very best of humour from theatre company Peepolykus you end up with a compelling, sometimes heartstring pulling and totally absorbing production of No Wise Men.

No Wise Men, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Big Country, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 9th 2011.

Apart from a reunion tour in 2007, the band Big Country has been out of the public eye for the best part of a decade. With their lives being shook by the untimely passing of former band mate Stuart Adamson it is reassuring and a pleasure to see the other three original members and their two very special guests play to packed out venues and getting the reviews that a band of such stature deserves.

Big Country, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(497 words, 1 image, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

Kate Robbins, Soho Nights. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 10th 2011.

It feels good to get out of your usual listening once in a while and appreciate something that will grab your attention and have you humming along without you even realising it. Liverpool’s own Kate Robbins new album Soho Nights is one such album.

From the opening bar of the title song, you feel as though you have been taken back to the heady days of the 1940’s jazz clubs that gave so much pleasure when there was very little in supply. Kate’s voice is a mixture of laid back and with a subtle hint of the great Karen Carpenter unique vibrato sound that made her a star.

Kate Robbins, Soho Nights. Album Review. full post

(380 words, 1 image, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

Interview With Baz Warne Of The Stranglers. (2011)

Photography from 2008. By Ian D. Hall

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 12th 2011.

Baz Warne is one of those musicians you have to just meet once to know that they will give you an interview worth keeping and you will have the memory of meeting one of the nicest people in rock. He is Erudite, forthright and a lot of fun to spend in the company of. As a quarter of the rock/punk band The Stranglers his input into the British Music Industry is much talked about by fans and peers alike and the fact he will talk to anyone about the Stranglers and his life is testament to the man’s outlook on living not just for the music he has been connected with but also the laughter he generates when talking to him.

Interview With Baz Warne Of The Stranglers. (2011) full post

(1930 words, 1 image, estimated 7:43 mins reading time)

The Friendship Experiment, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 15th 2011.

Cast:  Matt Rutter, Tim Lynskey.

It takes two brave men to create the genuinely superb insanity that is portrayed on stage in the form of The Friendship Experiment. From the moment Matt Rutter and Tim Lynskey bound on stage, the audience is in for over an hour of mayhem which will lead them down several rabbit holes and coming out the other side asking “what the hell just happened”.

The Friendship Experiment, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(297 words, estimated 1:11 mins reading time)

Proxies, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 17th 2011.

If 2010 was a good a year for unsigned young bands like Mercury Midnight and Not Advised then 2011 seems to be carrying on in the same vein. One of the bands to come to the public’s attention recently is the Proxies. The band is an eclectic mix of decent, hard hitting rock and electronica fused with an incredible and justified belief in themselves and their music.

Proxies, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(276 words, estimated 1:06 mins reading time)

The Visitation, Magnum. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 17th 2011.

Sixteen studio albums down the road and the Magnum story keeps on going. Two years ago the band produced the stunning and critically acclaimed Into the Valley of the Moonking; they follow this up with the quite frankly incredible The Visitation.

Once more Tony Clarkin’s signature song writing style is very much in evidence as he deals with subjects close to his and the bands heart. There can be very few bands where the main song writer and the vocalist are so in tune with each other’s requirements that the songs they come up with are stirring and poignant at the same time.

The Visitation, Magnum. Album Review. full post

(373 words, 1 image, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

The World Is Yours, Motorhead. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 17th 2011.

The very name of British heavy metal band Motorhead was once enough to strike fear into the hearts of fans worldwide, their overpowering guitar driven anthems, Lemmy’s persona and the very image they fully lived up to always meant they were a bit of a Marmite band, you either didn’t get them or you thought they were out of this world. There was no way you could be indifferent about the band.

The World Is Yours, Motorhead. Album Review. full post

(315 words, 1 image, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)