Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The natural charm of Britain’s Southwesterly dominions, Somerset, Devon and of course the free spirited Cornwall, is never in question, what it takes though is observant eyes and a striking soul in which to capture it and put into art; a tough ask in a world where fragile beauty, even in its most rugged form, is not universally enjoyed and appreciated.
Terence Reis of The Dire Straits Experience at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, February 2016. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
It is the shiver of expectation, the memory of mountains conquered and the marriage of saxophone and guitar, dipped in amber and the sound held out as if some lofty idyllic treasure was being presented from down upon high that makes the music of Dire Straits such a pleasurable way to spend an evening. Not that Dire Straits tour anymore, the chief of it all Mark Knopfler no longer caressing that particular avenue anymore and yet the sound of rolling thunder and expressive ambience lives on in the form of The Dire Straits Experience.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The devastating effect that a exploding volcano has on the surrounding earth and the serenity of the once peaceful air is never surely lost when a rock gig comes to town, especially one born out of a series of bands, one after each other that allows the intense heat and atomic like measure to flow evenly for a period of time before culminating in one final blow out, the landslide of love and affection overtaking the surge of rock endeavour. Volcanoes come and go, it is in their nature, however for Kentucky’s Black Stone Cherry, the impression they left on the minds who made their way to the Echo Arena on a cold January night will live on beyond the fertile cooling down of the Earth beneath the Rock lover’s feet.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The Carnival of Madness tour picks its bands carefully, almost with grace and tremendous forethought, for how else is it possible to believe that the bands on stage at the Echo Arena in January’s dying whispers could quite easily host a night headlining some of the city’s other venues and the same cranking of intensive hard rock sound be felt quivering in the spine.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The American railroad system was once upon a time a boon to the country, a piece of engineering wonder that straddled the distance between the Atlantic and the Pacific with pride and wonder, it helped put small towns on the map and paved the way for expansion that was unsurpassed for years. No sooner had it been completed than the great American love affair with cars began in earnest and small town America found itself strangled and cut off from the rest of the country, forced to join in or to become a back water of neglect and social abandon.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
You can plan your day, your week or even your life with the studious dedication normally reserved for the serious and the serial horse race gambler. You can study the form, you can see an outside bet that just comes across as being a terrific deal and one that blossoms in front of you, or even just continue to play safe and follow the absolute favourite around forever and yet from out of nowhere someone comes along and upsets all you know and perhaps believe in and gives a superb performance least when you expected it.
Eleanor Nelly at Zanzibar in Liverpool. January 2016. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Holding back from praising an artist is perhaps arguably the hardest job when it comes to comes to reviewing, you want the whole world to see what you have seen for a couple of years, the flourishing and blossoming of a musician before your very eyes, you can’t wait to tell those around you just how good they are…but you wait until it’s appropriate to do so; it is only the right thing to do and they in turn reward you with a performance that is measured, controlled and full of illumination.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The concept of moving away from a place where you may be settled, where the richness of your life is measured in local appreciation is perhaps an idea that some cannot face for the understandable fear of not capturing the soul of it again.
That feeling is universal, it breathes at the heart of humanity’s reason to find roots, to grow and yet if the chance is taken, if you move with belief then the appreciation for the artist grows and in Shaw, a young man for whom the south coast of England was his stomping ground, moving to Merseyside and offering his wonderful voice to Merseyside maybe seen as a huge stepping stone in his life.
Doogie White from Michael Schenker’s Temple Of Rock at the o2 Academy, Liverpool. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
As the sweat of a many a Liverpool rock fan glistened in the neon lights of the Academy, as the thunder of the well timed clap echoed round the room and the hint of the monumental started to take place in the minds of those in attendance, the smile of a master beamed down across the floor of the venue and the guitar, slung low, howled with joy at the response; if 2016 has been a kick in the teeth for music so far, if the feeling of loss has been verging on the unbearable, then Michael Schenker’s Temple of Rock was the antidote for the evening and a more magnificent display of raw musical prestige could a crowd ask for in such mesmerising light.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
One of the great successes of the last decade in the musical relationship between Liverpool, L.I.P.A. and the interestingly diverse culture of students that the city makes welcome every year is undoubtedly that that is the driving force of Science of the Lamps, Kaya Herstad Carney. One of the embodiments of Norwegian culture, of the tremendous ability to create atmospheric and delightful Nordic music which stands up to the heights of the story teller and the poetic nature of a people shrouded in the shadow of Northern Europe, Ms. Herstad Carney never sells herself or the audience short.