Category Archives: Live

Heaven 17, Gig Review. East Village Arts Centre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Lead us not into temptation… unless of course it is by the firm hand and knowing smiles of Glenn Gregory and Martyn Ware of the sensational Heaven 17.

These words must have passed the vast majority of lips of those attending the second night of the Heaven 17 tour many times in the preceding weeks leading up to the gig at the East Village Arts Centre in Liverpool. By the end of the night, by the time that Martin Ware had conjured up enticing music from out of the ether and Glenn Gregory had sang with the power of a male siren luring all to the ship of musical entanglement and provocative craving, those words would have been uttered in each audience member’s sleep but with spoken with no conviction, for all it seemed were entranced by the stage presence and desire raging three feet above them.

Heaven 17, Gig Review. East Village Arts Centre, Liverpool. full post

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

Blancmange, Gig Review. East Village Arts Centre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Neil Arthur stood almost transfixed on the stage of the East Village Arts Centre. Seemingly beautifully hypnotised by the sight and sound that was taking place before him as fans, young and old, of Blancmange didn’t just sing back to him, they liberated and gave freedom to the symbol of musical expression.

Blancmange, Gig Review. East Village Arts Centre, Liverpool. full post

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

The Boomtown Rats, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Bob Geldof at the o2 Academy, Liverpool, October 2014. Photgraph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

On a night like this…where the decades are rolled back, when the silent regret of Time sheds a tear for the lack of decency and improvement in the lives of those that inhabit the fragile Earth. In which the bullet and the bomb, the political scorn kicking downwards and the rise of a party in which right minded people should be doing all they can to make sure they never get a grasp on even a seat in the next election, let alone have a say in running the country. The Boomtown Rats returned to Liverpool and for those in the crowd at the o2 Academy old enough to remember, gave the type of performance for which audiences at Eric’s would have raved about for weeks on end.

The Boomtown Rats, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(729 words, 2 images, estimated 2:55 mins reading time)

Republica, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. October 2014.

Saffron of Republica at the 02 Academy in Liverpool. October 2014. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

As an outside band to Liverpool, to perform in the city once a year is to be considered fortunate, to come twice, to blast the cobwebs that build up into nothing more than finely layered dust and its occupiers scuttling into the small cracks and fissures, should be arguably considered as a sign of mutual appreciation.

Republica, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. October 2014. full post

(438 words, 1 image, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Under A Banner, Gig Review. The Flapper, Birmingham.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Serendipity has a much underrated effect on the human psyche. There are just those friends of yours that only ever want to see the main band, the one they have shelled out their hard earned money for, and for the rest of the evening they are quite happy to sit in the bar, holding a sort of court and quietly and perhaps intentionally chatting about the beer on offer behind the bar, then there are those that find by chance a group or a couple of bands that peak their interest and makes the overall evening one in which to remember. Call it what you will, chance, the fickle finger of fate or fortunate providence or just an understanding that support artists can be just as enjoyable as the main act.

Under A Banner, Gig Review. The Flapper, Birmingham. full post

(629 words, estimated 2:31 mins reading time)

Capital Sun, Gig Review. The Flapper, Birmingham.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Broad Street in Birmingham has long been the resting place of those wishing to dance the night away, to fulfil every possible legal desire they wish to bestow upon themselves and perhaps a little more if the chance arises. Just off Broad Street lays The Flapper, a venue of repute and in which perhaps arguably remains a stout defender against what could be seen as the rising tide of apathy all-round the country of smaller independent pubs, bars and clubs losing a reputation in showcasing new talent in favour of the crass commercialism offered in other places, the overwhelming abundance of cover bands that seem to strike at will like a python sizing up its options in the face of a mongoose, and like the Bilston Robin takes pleasure in being able to do so.

Capital Sun, Gig Review. The Flapper, Birmingham. full post

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

Amsterdam, Gig Review. The Flapper, Birmingham.

Ian Prowse of Amsterdam. The Flapper, Birmingham. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Sometimes you have to go back to where it began to understand why you are where you are now. Sometimes the journey can be a little painful; it can be exciting and almost certainly overwhelming. For Ian Prowse and the energetic ensemble of musicians that make up the band Amsterdam, coming back to Birmingham after a five year absence proved not only to make the wonderfully vocal crowd’s hearts inside The Flapper grow as fond as a father’s love for his daughter but also showed exactly why lovers of music in Birmingham and Liverpool share a common thread.

Amsterdam, Gig Review. The Flapper, Birmingham. full post

(647 words, 1 image, estimated 2:35 mins reading time)

Kobra And The Lotus, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

It’s not every day you find a cobra on stage entertaining a crowd so completely but the difference is that this particular Kobra has got bite. A tempting creature who, had she been placed somewhere on hand in the Garden of Eden wouldn’t have had any trouble in tempting the guardians of the Tree of Knowledge into sacrificing their cushy life and no doubt which ever deity happened to be wandering past at the time, then this Kobra would have happily taken them down the path to true Metal redemption also.

Kobra And The Lotus, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(520 words, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

Scare Tactics, Gig Review. 02 Academy, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It doesn’t quite matter when, for timing is unimportant in such matters, but at some point when watching Scare Tactics inside the 02 Academy as they support America’s Metal sensation Kobra and the Lotus, you will feel the floor buzz as if you have somehow placed your feet on a carpet of the biggest, meanest and understandably angry bees going. The buzz turns to a loud hum and in time becomes the type of noise in which images of 747 jet plane, perhaps being piloted by the largest bee ever seen and who woke up with a hangover the size of The Empire State Building, comes across in waves. It is palpable, it is magnificent and the beat is relentless.

Scare Tactics, Gig Review. 02 Academy, Liverpool. full post

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

Black Diamond, Gig Review. 02 Academy, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

It is a responsibility that must be faced with strength and humility that if you find a young group of musicians who have blown you away the very first time you see them, you have to go and find them again, give them another listen to just make sure that what you heard was a musical truth and not the first signs of sentimental middle age. You owe it to yourself to go along with a view of dispassionate attention and steel yourself to find that age has tempered your thinking.

Black Diamond, Gig Review. 02 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(599 words, estimated 2:24 mins reading time)