Category Archives: Live

The Farm, Gig Review. Tranmere Rovers, Prenton Park.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The Farm At Prenton Park. May 2017.

It was perhaps not the party or the celebration that Tranmere Rovers would have liked to have imagined taking place on their pitch as their incredible season just fell short of a successful return to the Football League. However, to hold a series of nights of great quality music inside Prenton Park would surely add to the thought that the area was on the up, that there is absolute optimism for the following season and in an opening night which consisted of The Farm and Madness, there really was nothing else that could detract from two of the most admired bands the country has produced.

The Farm, Gig Review. Tranmere Rovers, Prenton Park. full post

(462 words, 1 image, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

The Cherry Bluestorms, Gig Review. The Cavern, Liverpool. International Pop Overthrow 2017.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The vibe is assured, the sense of what drove the Summer of Love from the far off beaches of Los Angeles, of the cool sunglasses wearing bohemia that sent out a shock wave of hope across the states of America and in amongst turbulent times, in the fear that was almost catastrophic and inescapable, a light shined brightly, it took hold manifested itself and saw it become a serious movement, one all to brief, one all too short but nevertheless one that burned optimistically for the most wonderful of moments.

The Cherry Bluestorms, Gig Review. The Cavern, Liverpool. International Pop Overthrow 2017. full post

(436 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Lloyd and Daly, Gig Review. The Cavern, Liverpool. International Pop Overthrow 2017.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It might be one of the most visited music venues on the planet, not only for the hungry masses enjoying a gig and relaxing as they hopefully take in some expertly played musicianship and stunning lyrics but also for those whose sightseeing just happens to take in the venue, the fifteen minutes of fame as they walk between taking in the glory of Liverpool’s impressive docks and the history that makes the city so vibrant, for them a moment with the back drop of the one of the most iconic walls in the world behind them is an absolute must.

Lloyd and Daly, Gig Review. The Cavern, Liverpool. International Pop Overthrow 2017. full post

(424 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Mac and Clague, Gig Review. The Cavern, Liverpool. International Pop Overthrow 2017.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

In amongst the strange beguiling beauty that enraptures and the knowledge of artistic endeavour, if you look very closely you will find the unexpected wedged in with most perfect of fits; that the fit in this case belongs to the genuinely exciting Mac and Clague as they stand on stage inside The Cavern, that is blending of splendour and exotic that is always the final result that anybody could ask for.

Mac and Clague, Gig Review. The Cavern, Liverpool. International Pop Overthrow 2017. full post

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

Alison Green, Gig Review. The Cavern, Liverpool. I.P.O. (2017).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The smaller stage inside The Cavern is perhaps one that does not get the big audiences, however in amongst the memorabilia and the scrawled on graffiti, the pictures of the greats and the memorable, there is always a very loyal crowd hovering in the tight fitting space and the haunting memories of the underground venue that established British popular music as the envy of the world.

Alison Green, Gig Review. The Cavern, Liverpool. I.P.O. (2017). full post

(436 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Findlay Napier, Gig Review. The Music Room, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The music Rooms of the Philharmonic Hall are exactly the type of venue that were made for the writings and compositions of an artist such as Findlay Napier, the sense of beauty that is carried within the lyrics, the harmony that exists between musician and their chosen weapon of virtue and the deeply held implication of the offering that can be felt without being blinded by lights and dazzled by distance; for Findlay Napier and his visit to Liverpool this was as close to heavenly, funny, anarchic but brilliant, as an audience could ask for.

Findlay Napier, Gig Review. The Music Room, Liverpool. full post

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

Procal Harum, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool sound and Vision Rating * * * *

They are responsible for one of the most endearing and enduring songs of all time, the sense that without them adding the classic A Whiter Shade of Pale to the musical history books, that it would still be played 50 years later as memories of the Summer of Love captivate the mind is more than astonishing. It is alongside the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, of Woodstock, of the emergence of Pink Floyd,  Jefferson Airship, The Small Faces, of images of humanity stepping forth on an alien surface, the Mamas and the Papas and the flourish birth of Progressive Rock that defines the period of 67-69 as one of great highs daunting hopes.

Procal Harum, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(465 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

Steve Hackett, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2017).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Steve Hackett at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, May 2017. Photograph by Ian D. Hall

The world has changed so much in the last 40 years that barely a whisper of it is now recognisable, fashions have come and gone, a couple of generations of music lovers have been born and slid silently into the edited grooves of downloadable music and fought with all their might to claim the art form as their own, that in their minds they, understandably, are the ones who invented music.

Steve Hackett, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2017). full post

(577 words, 1 image, estimated 2:18 mins reading time)

Roxanne de Bastion, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. (2017).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

People tend to confuse themselves sometimes, the Universe is spectacular like that, believing that to be the best requires the finest of everything, the largest venue perhaps, the abundance of both food and drink on tap, and in this day and age either all for nothing or they are willing to brag about in the Netherspehere of social media that they paid thousands of pounds to a tout outside and that makes the evening perfect.

Roxanne de Bastion, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. (2017). full post

(547 words, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)

Thom Morecroft, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. (2017).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Thom Morecroft at Leaf. May 2017. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

If ever there is a poll for the greatest artist to come out of Shropshire, there had better be a vote included on the ballot sheet for Thom Morecroft, not that such things in the end are important but for the man who made Liverpool his home and produces the type of music in which the veins inside the body crackle and pop with shuddering excitement, to which the nerves glisten with the sweat of anticipation and the joy of the smile is never far from the lips, such an accolade is always awaiting to be said with great sincerity.

Thom Morecroft, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. (2017). full post

(458 words, 1 image, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)