Heaven 17’s Glenn Gregory at the Liverpool 02 Academy, October 2016.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Any genre of music requires its founding fathers, its elder statesmen and women, the ones who made the dream of a generation and the bane of a previous one, to stand up, take control and be magnificent in the face of possible adversity and obliging redemption.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
For the unexpected, the unforeseen droll and beautifully humorous, sometimes you have to go that extra mile, you have to put yourself into the path of the genius and let their song cleanse your spirit.
Level 42’s Mark King at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. October 2016. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
There was always something about them that was so right, the sound that was different to the pop dominance of British music in the 1980s and 90s. It was enough to make sure that their style of performing, the hard swish of the distinctive bass and funk undertones, was guaranteed a special status in the hearts of music fans; Level 42 were always going to be a positive influence upon the ears.
Herringbone John knows how light up an audience, how to get them started before a long luxurious day of music, there are very few that have that sense of calmness deeply imbedded into their souls.
We Shall Overcome had been the talk of the town all week, the abundance of bands that have made their way to be part of one of the most loved festivals but one with the most ideal of purest thoughts behind it was a staggering and sobering thought. The message spread, the word passed round that the music is a sure fire way to let people know that the world we live in at this moment in time is nothing short of rotten, a shadow of what a should be, a national disgrace that we have allowed people to get away with for too long.
To have one King in your life is to have good fortune, to acquire a second, that is the sound of destiny calling, of the riches of father-son genes and love for music being passed down and it is one that unfolds and reveals that talent is blessed and prosperous.
The sensational Derek King had already paved the way for Liverpool Acoustic’s contribution to the Saturday of We Shall Overcome, and as the day hurtled towards its natural end, as the music began to drift to the more electric sound elsewhere in the city, the final flourish, the flag raised high on a fantastic and well conducted afternoon of music inside Sound Food and Drink was unfurled by the next generation of King, the creative and magical Pete King.
There is a point in which all the music in the world, all that you have ever listened to all boils down to how it makes you feel, you can analyse the guitar, the fretwork, the notes, the absolute genius of it all, all you want. In the end though it comes down to the way the writer, the player, makes you feel and in Lauren Davenport there is an emotion waiting to pour itself out onto the page that is wonderfully unique.
The element of surprise, some handle the responsibility, some faint at the prospect, some surprise, some last minute addition just make the whole experience so complete that it is hard to have imagined the day without it ever having been so. Last minute surprise to the bill at Sound Food and Drink for the We Shall Overcome was the ever impressive figure of Three Minute Hero, the champion of the lyric, Stuart Todd, and as always the man and the musician was on top form.
They used to say good things come to those who wait, that patience between events was the virtue in which to aspire; a hangover from the Victorian era in which we are still reaping the disaster of the times from; the painful way of believing that self denial is a good thing when it comes to appreciation. They used to say a lot of things but hardly any of it is relevant in 21st Century, especially the Victorian’s attitude to the poor and the destitute, the infirm and those to whom Government decisions effect negatively.
Liverpool’s acoustic scene would not be the same without the people who donate so much of their time and energy to make sure the musicians are heard and given a major platform to show their talent and their inspirations off to. It is point that should be mentioned often, that so many superb musicians play in the city and get their audience in the effort of Liverpool Acoustic; a realm of enlightened attitude which does all the greatest of service.
To combine poetry and music is a realm many dream of, yes the lyrical genius of many a song-writer is steeped in the stuff of Zeus’ sentiment to humanity, the gentle coaxing of the heart stopping shock and adoration laid down by Jove in the guise of the Balladeer to their latest muse. However, it takes great wit and fortitude to delve between the two states of deliberation, the twin flirtations with an audience and not be seen as anything than heroic whilst upon the stage.