Ste Reid of The Mono Lps at St. Lukes Chuch, Liverpool. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Liverpool called out, giants strode the roads and alleys as if they had appeared out of a C.S. Lewis manuscript and inside St. Luke’s Church another set of giants, ones not controlled by puppetry, man nor machine took to stage and showed once more just why they are such an exciting, tremendously warm and energetic band to watch live.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 81/2/10Watching the smooth nature of Liverpool’s Cavalry on stage inside St. Luke’s Church it strikes you that life, especially music, is sometimes cruel. In another time, another era of Britain’s music history and only half a life time ago for many in the audience of the bombed out church, Alan Croft, Austin Logan, Steven Taylor, Paul James Jones and Gareth Dawson would have many a label scrapping with each other to have dibs on their precious signatures.
Southbound Attic Band at Liverpool Calling, St. Lukes Church. July 2014. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Coming on stage for Liverpool Calling 2014 inside St. Luke’s Church, the two members of the Southbound Attic Band made the self-effacing quip that they were the token oldies on show that day. Whilst it was a joke, what they bought to the event in the under threat Bombed Out Church was nothing short of genuine, panache ridden and on par with anything else played on a hot summer’s day in Liverpool.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Gold Jacks at the St Luk’e Church as part of Liverpool Calling 2014. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Effortless, a joy to listen to, as naturally showman like as you want and uncomplicated, this pretty much sums up what it is like to hear Manchester based band Gold Jacks for the first time.
Mark McCullough of The Next Life at St. Lukes, Liverpool. Liverpool Calling. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
If there is one thing amongst many that Liverpool and its people can do, it is an unerring ability to make the most of any space going and turn it into a theatre, an arena in which something artistic can happen. You only have to take a discreet wander round town and with eyes obviously wide open to see this happening everywhere.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Even the most optimistic of music lovers are fully aware that to not see a band for around a year and expect them to play with the same consistency, the same richness that attracted you to them in the first place, could be seen as neglect, musical carelessness, a certain mistreatment. After all if human beings can change and grow then why not the artistic endeavours that we pursue. Those same artistic impressions can often lead to a downhill path, the choices made seemingly poor as band politics come into play and ego’s get bruised and battered.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
To sit infront of a young band who has come out fighting on all fronts since their inception and knowing that each time they appear before you, they just get more sleek, more smooth and unbelievably good is a feeling that warms the heart of even the most ungracious of hearts.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 81/2/10
Go Fiasco, Zanzibar Club, Liverpool. July 2014. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Reva at the Zanzibar Club, Liverpool. July 2014. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
If only the so called Brit Pop phenomenon of the 1990s had been founded in the heartland of pop, the public houses, the bars and clubs that cosy alongside the River Mersey it would have arguably been as colourful as the Mersey Beat era of the 1960s. It would have also arguably been more substantial and lasted with more ferocity than what eventually fizzled out between a few bands, sometimes with the British press over egging it to the point where there was a farm somewhere in Lancashire on 24 hour production schedule to meet the near selfish demand.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 71/2/10
The Zanzibar Club has had so many bands and musicians pass through its large metallic doors that if there was to be a roll of honour made up, carved out of the same wood that adorns the walls at Lords Cricket ground when a player takes five or ten wickets in an innings then amongst the names of Alan O’ Hare, the legendary Pete Wylie and the sensational Mersey Wylie and a thousand fold others, the one that might catch the eye is the exciting The Akalites.