Category Archives: Live

Billy Joel, Gig Review. Wembley Stadium, London.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The lights may have been seen to go out over Broadway, but as the sound of the piano keys crashed down and the echo of thousands of racing hearts fulfilled an ambition in the home of national sports greatest heroes, the illumination from a thousand cameras, of what seemed like a million cell phones capturing the event, Wembley was lit up in spectacular style. This was the honouring of a man for whom so many had perhaps waited a lifetime to watch perform and who now bathed in the glare of flashbulbs and love.

Billy Joel, Gig Review. Wembley Stadium, London. full post

(550 words, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)

The Good Host, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. (2016).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The sound of Vienna, the last days of grand empire in a city that would remain forever associated with fine music and beautiful venues in which to play them, could not sound more opulent or desirable than being able to relish in the alternative Folk Rock guitar sound driven by The Good Host. The whirl of Vienna, the mood of the Danube slowly winding itself down through Europe and the psychological musings of Freud as the ghosts of the Habsburgs looked on; none of that splendour matches being in the company of the band that makes music just something you yearn for the company of a fine port and a roaring Christmas fire for.

The Good Host, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. (2016). full post

(431 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

Matthew McGurty, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. (2016).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The last time Matthew McGurty performed in Studio 2 to such a loyal and intensely proud audience the winter of 2015 was in full blast and the cold was such that that the music of the man was not just a welcome glow in the corner of some good old fashioned public house, the type where they won’t let you leave for home without checking that you are safe to do so and if walking, pouring you the fortifying aid of a hearty whisky, it was the shine of the sun on a near broken spirit and the smouldering of a dusky maiden kiss.

Matthew McGurty, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. (2016). full post

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

Joe Kelly, Gig Review. Constellations, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is something tremendously satisfying about sitting in a place of worship all day, feeling the sense of a different presence wash over you, especially when it from a song book you haven’t had the pleasure of hearing before.

The writer of the solemn text standing in the arena, the musical pulpit and with guitar in hand, keyboards and backing vocalists ready to praise the written word and laid down tune, worship is something you feel compelled to do. Though Constellations is far from a church as you can imagine, if your belief is in the power of the art that lays within us all, then the final act of Beerdfest 2016 would have anyone clutching their hearts and straining their ears to hear the words of Joe Kelly.

Joe Kelly, Gig Review. Constellations, Liverpool. full post

(414 words, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Benn Helm, Gig Review. Constellations, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The day is filled with the unseen and the unexpected, it is the time in which the shadows find glee at the darkness and shelter we simple spectres of humanity crave for; the comfort of the music we know and never daring to step beyond it out of fear or the thought of betrayal to the memory of the band that you have nurtured in your soul for as long as you have taken breath.

Benn Helm, Gig Review. Constellations, Liverpool. full post

(445 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

SheBeat, Gig Review. Constellations, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Jodie Schofield is a much missed woman around Liverpool, the voice of a thousand dreams has found another part of the world in which to rest the souls of the anxious and play for those who need saving; it is a loss that quite rightly many in the acoustic scene of Liverpool have felt but it was also one that was quickly rectified, albeit too briefly as the performer behind SheBeat, not only hosted her day of praising all things beard but also found time to perform songs and put her new SheBeat E.P. into the public gaze.

SheBeat, Gig Review. Constellations, Liverpool. full post

(463 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

Ste Neildsey, Gig Review. Constellations, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

In amongst the hirsute and the abundant floral facial decorations stood on stage a man to whom looked equally as impressive but also indomitable in his pursuit to be the very best man on display inside Constellations on a day when the wind and rain were conspiring to make every male in the city look blustery and windswept. Whilst others were going over their looks, quite rightly in appreciation of Beerdfest and everything facially follicle, the every impressive Ste Neildsy was marking out a path of his own and it was that excellent to witness, especially with one whose own reputation is taking great strides.

Ste Neildsey, Gig Review. Constellations, Liverpool. full post

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

Maddie Stenberg, Gig Review. Constellations, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

One of the most valuable lessons that can ever be learned is almost something that comes out of instinct and character; it is the intuition to keep going regardless is being thrown at you, to not give in to those obscene forces of the surface noise and the crackle of the amped and buffeted. It can be taught but it is an art that seems more natural if your impulse is to play through it all and still perform a great set.

Maddie Stenberg, Gig Review. Constellations, Liverpool. full post

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

Ladies, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It has all the makings of a great introduction, the curtain raiser presented by a ringmaster of great repute and with a talent for the language of their craft to entice and beguile the wary watcher in from the cold, to dazzle and astonish as ribbons fall from the ceiling and the audience’s eyes are diverted for a while from the main event. It is not the jiggery pokery of a circus that attracts in this instance, it is the dynamic of a band from Leicester who have made Liverpool very much their home.

Ladies, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. full post

(433 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

Anna Houghton, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

To be on any invited bill shows respect, it shows a longing to hear more of what you offer and is a sentiment that should never be dismissed easily. To be on the bill of an E.P. launch, to be among the select crowd of performers installing reverie and flights of musical fantasy in the midweek desert is to know that music is not a delusion, it is not an unfulfilled desire, it is hope wrapped in sheet music, placed within the instrument of choice and given care.

Anna Houghton, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. full post

(417 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)