Category Archives: Live

Joe Francis, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The young Cornishman on stage at the Epstein Theatre defies the image many may have of the county as being in league of wanting separation from the U.K., an image wrongly held by those in London and in the grasping power halls of the Westminster Village as being aloof from the country, insular, narrow minded and the prefect representation of the wildness of the untamed south, a wildness they see unflatteringly in the North of the line that divides their own minds. It is an image that Joe Francis happily shatters as he muses and sings of a greater inclusive nature that all artists hope for.

Joe Francis, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Boo Hewerdine, Gig Review. Music Room, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Boo Hewerdine at the Music Room, Liverpool, November 2016. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The music of Boo Hewerdine may draw you in, the elegance of easy virtue and taste adding spice to the occasion but it is also his dry humour, his self- depreciation and anecdotes of a profession well lived that catches the attention of his live sets.

To many in the Philharmonic Hall’s Music Room, Boo Hewerdine is a colossus of British music and as he went through the near countless songs at his and the gathered audience’s disposal, there was no arguing with that simple and honest fact of artistic life.

Boo Hewerdine, Gig Review. Music Room, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(412 words, 1 image, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Dave O’ Grady, Gig Review. Music Room, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Dave O' Grady at the Muisc Room in Liverpool. November 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Dave O’ Grady at the Music Room in Liverpool. November 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The ambience, the environment of a tangible quiet serenity is only ever enhanced when a musician of deep meaning words adds his worth to the vibe on offer. Like a master painter of seascapes finding the one flaw in his work that would have gone unnoticed by all and sundry who marvelled infront of it, the addition of a single piece of spectral light peering ominously from behind a passing cloud, not only adds texture and meaning, it adds a vision perhaps unseen.

Dave O’ Grady, Gig Review. Music Room, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

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

Caro Emerald, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2015).

Caro Emerald at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, November 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The scene was set, the lights taken down to the feeling of sensual overload and moody cool and the band, that all important addition to any night of Jazz played immediately with a stirring passion that broke down any misplaced resistance of those that had poured themselves into the comfort of the Philharmonic Hall after the on-going downpour of the day and yet there was no sign of the shocking Ms. Emerald. The sound was there but no glorious sight, until the spotlight was seen and in one of the boxes stood the resplendent figure of Ms. Emerald taking the art of performance out into the crowd, standing emotionally enthralled and naked in amongst the people who had come to see her and the opening song of The Other Woman took on a whole different approach.

Caro Emerald, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2015). full post

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

Andreya Triana, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Andreya Triana at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool. November 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There are perhaps fewer things in life, especially within the artistic range, more daunting than opening up for a woman who it is agreed almost universally to be a star of unrivalled quality. Nobody would ever blame a support act for feeling the slight unhinging trepidation which passes as they walk across the stage with a couple of thousand eyes baring down before them, nobody would truly bat an eye lid if the sound of their heart was audibly so loud that it drowned out the polite applause that greeted the performer. Yet as Andreya Triana made her way past the boards that have held a million feet, there was arguably no sense of the nerves showing at all, only wonderfully composed respect for the audience’s time.

Andreya Triana, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(397 words, 1 image, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

The Waterboys, Gig Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Mike Scott offers so much of himself on stage that the decency of the man shines through with the glow of warm African sunset and the truth of a great Scottish artist.

Returning to Liverpool as part of their latest tour and to what should be considered a natural home for The Waterboys, the band played a set that was both outrageously enjoyable but also deeply conscious of the audiences wishes to be entertained and informed, to not just be the type of gig in which the flickering neon lights glaze the eyes but instead offer a type of natural absolution to the day, the warmth of that deep African sunset illuminating the thoughts with effortless wisdom.

The Waterboys, Gig Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Steve Harley, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Steve Harley at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, November 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are moments in life where the delicate, sometimes unseen hairs on the back of the hand and those that reside in the nape of the neck, rise with clear conscious at the sound of humanity doing what it does best, singing with unashamed passion from the same song book and with beauty in their hearts.

Steve Harley, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(613 words, 1 image, estimated 2:27 mins reading time)

Go West And Nik Kershaw, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Go West and Nik Kershaw at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. November 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Whoever thought of putting together two of the big names of their generation, not only on the same bill, but as some sort of 80s super-group, for a tour deserves to be given their own office, an unlimited budget and the phone numbers of all the bands of the last great decade for singles and the 45s.

Go West And Nik Kershaw, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(501 words, 1 image, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

Carol Decker (T’Pau), Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Carol Decker at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. November 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is a temptation to feel sorry for Carol Decker, the lynch pin of the band T’Pau, it is persuasion of ever increasing spirit to find a way to get radio stations to look beyond what she and the band did three decades ago and take a listen to how the sound is to be perceived now. The temptation is there but also is the realisation that Ms. Decker has strength of will on her side and a resolute determination that requires no sympathy, just the ability to listen to someone with the humour firmly still in place and the stage presence to enrich many lives.

Carol Decker (T’Pau), Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(421 words, 1 image, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

Charlie Landsborough, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Charlie Landsborogh, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. November 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Charlie Landsborough, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. November 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is no doubting the appeal of Charlie Landsborough, a man of delicate persuasion, of faith in all things and to whom the guitar holds no fear; he is a man with a twinkle in his eye and a joke ready for his adoring audience in between each well thought out and evenly tempered song. Even when all is said and done he finds time to make the crowd, perhaps with one eye on the festive period ahead, perhaps with half a mind on finally getting dry after the deluge of the November day that hit the streets of Liverpool, feel welcome at his show perhaps arguably with more keenness of spirit that any other musician doing the rounds.

Charlie Landsborough, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(452 words, 1 image, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)