Category Archives: Live

Black Star Riders, Gig Review. Genting Arena, Birmingham.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

It is the type of bill in which any self respecting lover of Rock might have to believe there was a possibility that Heaven might actually exist but it was to be found at the entrance to the motorways that surround Birmingham and be the spiritual home of the Rock and Metal extravaganza for the U.K. If the thought of Whitesnake and Def Leppard wasn’t enough to start salivating over then the opening act on the night, the exceptional Black Star Riders was surely enough to have the thought of a great Rock night out, arguably the last great one in the Birmingham area before Christmas, explode like the contents of the finest bottle of Balvenie onto the taste buds.

Black Star Riders, Gig Review. Genting Arena, Birmingham. full post

(402 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Def Leppard, Gig Review. Genting Arena, Birmingham.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

It is entirely possible to believe that the structure that holds the Genting Arena together had only just stopped quaking from the previous visit of Metallica, that the combined forces of Black Star Riders, Whitesnake and now Sheffield’s finest Rock act Def Leppard were about to dislodge the settled dust and explode it down to its constituent atoms, that Metallica, for all their glory, were just a warm up act a few years back up the line for what was about to explode in the centre of the Midlands.

Def Leppard, Gig Review. Genting Arena, Birmingham. full post

(473 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Whitesnake, Gig Review. Genting Arena, Birmingham.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

As the Genting Arena, the latest name for the building passes in British music history as the old N.E.C., the stomping ground for nights in which the upbeat Blues and the pomp and ceremony associated with reverential Rock, the heavy guitar and the glorious pounding smile of satisfaction of sweat dripping down from the forehead, was plunged into darkness, a traditional meaty track came over the speakers and filled the hall with heart thumping gravitas and expectation.

Whitesnake, Gig Review. Genting Arena, Birmingham. full post

(460 words, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

Shine, Gig Review. Music Rooms, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

All that was missing as the purity of Scottish voice and the sense of purpose that only two harps and a glockenspiel can bring to the abundant, almost feast like musical table, was the feeling of the Music Room at the Philharmonic Hall being transposed to the Scottish Highlands. It gives the feeling of a cold storm of rampant snow being trampled underfoot by majestic reindeer hoof and well stitched made shoe leather and shiny boot and the slight taste of acridity from the log fire burning within a castle wall with the same swell of passion as the three women who make up the fantastic band Shine.

Shine, Gig Review. Music Rooms, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

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

Space, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The beat never fades, the sound of Merseyside, of Liverpool alleyways, of the grasp of the real and the determination to show that everything in life is valuable, that it has a reason to be there; all is revealed when Space get up on stage and rock the joint to its foundations.

Having been on tour since the middle of November, to come back home and perform in a venue that offers musicians so much scope, so much entertaining backdrop to each lyrical syllable that can be ground out of each instrument, is surely the success that all performers ain for; the sound of their own enjoying what surely must be considered amongst the very best of nights in the year.

Space, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(472 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Dreaming Of Kate, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. (2015)

Maaike Brejman performing as Dreaming Of Kate at the Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The elusiveness of Kate Bush, arguably one of the great female recording acts that Britain has produced in the last 50 years, as a stage performer is always keenly felt by those whose love of her special concoction of dance and magical lyrics. The decades that have passed, the sense of falling in love to someone whose music has defined much of how the public certain segments of time, all missed, all grieved over and whilst quite rightly Ms. Bush is lauded for her music, the sense of loss is always there.

Dreaming Of Kate, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. (2015) full post

(383 words, 1 image, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

The Stranglers, Gig Review. Hydro, Glasgow.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

It is the pull of the hero, the wanting to be in the same room as those lauded and respected that brings an audience back time and time again. Even after 40 years or so, countless gigs, the music never gets old, the stance of the conqueror never betraying time or allowing rust to set in to the mighty engine built frame, you can never truly escape the feel of fire that grows in the stomach, you can never turn your back on the hero.

The Stranglers, Gig Review. Hydro, Glasgow. full post

(489 words, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

Simple Minds, Gig Review. Hydro, Glasgow.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The return to home territory is always an occasion in which to celebrate is mandatory, it is a fixed point on a tour in which the special is perhaps rolled out with more vigour and aplomb, in which the music takes on a binding pact between artist and audience, in which the pubs and clubs that surround the arena are flowing with memories of where it all started and where it perhaps might find itself.

Simple Minds, Gig Review. Hydro, Glasgow. full post

(371 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

Anthrax, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Birmingham.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The clock ticks down with strength and purpose as the black clouds of unimpressive rain and chocked down November days hit the Birmingham Streets. The Bristol Road, once a serene setting for W.H. Auden as he meandered back home in which to place a timely piece of prosaic poetry, is now lined with the signs of two of the “Big Four” of American Thrash Metal adorned on T-shirts and the rightful acknowledgement that Birmingham is the true home of Metal.

Anthrax, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Birmingham. full post

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

Cara Dillon, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Perhaps the comparison should be noted between Cara Dillon and the subject of one of her songs which ended up as both a hit for Disney but also the bane of her young daughter’s life. Not for the fairy-like appeal but in the delicate nature of her voice that has the consistency of refreshing spring water running playfully down the hills of her native Northern Ireland and the image of thousand Cabbage White Butterflies let loose on the wings of a delicate breeze.

Cara Dillon, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(362 words, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)