Category Archives: Live

Space, Gig Review. O2 Academy, Liverpool.

Tommy Scott at the 02 Academy, Liverpool. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

If you are after a spectacular party to round off a fantastic year of music in Liverpool then you should look no further than the city’s own band, Space. The personnel may have changed since the heady days of the 1990’s but there is no doubting the essential and unique brand of cool that Tommy Scott, Franny Griffiths, Allan Jones, Phil Hartley and Ryan Clarke bring to the stage for the audience to have some serious fun too.

Space, Gig Review. O2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(456 words, 1 image, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Steve Hogarth, Gig Review. St. Bride’s Church, Liverpool.

steve hogarth at St Bride’s Church, Liverpool. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Steve Hogarth and Liverpool are made for each other. In the past few years he has made the pilgrimage-like trek away from the touring with Marillion and delivered shows with just himself, a piano and an array of compositions, much loved songs and the odd story in which to regale and entertain audiences with.

Steve Hogarth, Gig Review. St. Bride’s Church, Liverpool. full post

(408 words, 1 image, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

The University of Liverpool’s Symphony Orchestra, Classical Review. Eleanor Rathbone Building, Liverpool.

Emily Ferrie at The University of Liverpool’s Eleanor Rathbone Building. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The University of Liverpool’s Symphony Orchestra is a wonderful sight to hold when in full flight, when tackling the works of Beethoven, Bartok, Mozart and Mussorgsky then it is a positive delight for the seasoned Classical music buff and interested novice alike.

The University of Liverpool’s Symphony Orchestra, Classical Review. Eleanor Rathbone Building, Liverpool. full post

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

The Human League, Gig Review. o2 Apollo, Manchester.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The Human League is one the seminal bands to come out of South Yorkshire and alongside Heaven 17 and A.B.C. formed a successful triumvirate that took the U.K. charts by storm in the 1980’s. Fast forward 35 years and the crowd at the Manchester Apollo are brimming with excitement at seeing Philip Oakey, Joanne Catherall and Susan Sulley stand on stage once more.

The Human League, Gig Review. o2 Apollo, Manchester. full post

(448 words, 1 image, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Madness, Gig Review. Liverpool Echo Arena.

Suggs at the Liverpool Echo Arena. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The curtain draws back at the Echo Arena and suddenly one of the biggest indoor parties opens up before an excited and fervent audience full of passion.  A collective desire to see one of the best bands of their generation perform their new songs and greatest hits for them, it can only mean one thing…that Madness are back in town again.

Madness, Gig Review. Liverpool Echo Arena. full post

(456 words, 1 image, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Galloway, Culbert and Doyle, Gig Review. Mello Mello, Liverpool.

Marianne Galloway, part of the folk band Galloway, Culbert and Doyle. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Liverpool’s much prized status as the most cultured city within the U.K. has been further enhanced in recent months by the emergence of a young traditional folk band with the guile and intelligence that marks them out as a very special breed of musicians.

Galloway, Culbert and Doyle are three University of Liverpool students who have brought to their adopted home a sense of pride in reviving the spirit of traditional English folk music and confirming that Liverpool is quite rightly the City of Culture in England.

Galloway, Culbert and Doyle, Gig Review. Mello Mello, Liverpool. full post

(390 words, 1 image, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Dave O’ Grady, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool.

Dave O’ Grady and Mersey Wylie at Leaf. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

If Dave O’ Grady was special before, then the added inclusion of the amazing talented vocals of Mersey Wylie adds another dimension to the man with a voice like velvet.

Dave O’ Grady, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. full post

(513 words, 1 image, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Robert Vincent, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool.

Robert Vincent at Leaf on Bold Street. Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Even if you have been aware of an artist’s work for a while, there is something unimaginably superb at catching them live for the first time. With Robert Vincent opening up at Leaf before Dave O’ Grady, the audience realised very early into Robert’s set that they were in for a very enjoyable and exclusive, entertaining evening.

Robert Vincent, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. full post

(395 words, 1 image, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Radiate, Liverpool Bandstand, Williamson Square.

Marcella Rick at the Liverpool Bandstand. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Perhaps one of the hardest jobs in the entertainment field is to amuse and tickle the fancy of those who have no time for what you are doing. This is especially hard when the task before the actor or musician takes place on a raw, rain filled afternoon just a few short weeks before the festive season arrives.

Radiate, Liverpool Bandstand, Williamson Square. full post

(289 words, 1 image, estimated 1:09 mins reading time)

Trillium, Gig Review. 02 Academy, Liverpool.

Amanda Somerville of Trillium. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It’s a long way from Flushing in Michigan to the delights of one of Liverpool’s major music venues but there is something that the two areas have in common and that is the adoration Amanda Somerville is able to command as part of the Symphonic/Progressive metal group Trillium.

To open for the premier Midlands Rock band Magnum is a huge honour and one that is not given easily but Amanda Somerville and her creatively intelligent band have more than earned that right and proceeded to prove the point over and over again during the early part of the evening.

Trillium, Gig Review. 02 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(390 words, 1 image, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)