The Divine Comedy, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. Gig Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

To Absent Friends…

A joyful crowd, one perhaps with deep untouched feelings within their souls, people who have lost pals, friends, loved ones, in a period of time which we were collectively denied moments that bring us joy, and which, to those absent friends, their presence, their love, might have circulated long into the night as Neil Hannon, the persona of The Divine Comedy, brought a collection of songs, hits, and wonders to Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall, and revelled in the mischief of lyrical genius, and the chance to shake off, maybe for the first time in a couple of years, the pressure of an unforgiving period in human history.

The Divine Comedy, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. Gig Review. full post

(514 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Henry VI. Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Stratford-Upon-Avon. Theatre Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Mark Quartley, Minnie Gale, Arthur Hughes, Oliver Alvin-Wilson, Ashley D Gale, Ben Hall, Nicholas Karimi, Conor Glean, Daniel J Carver, Richard Cant, Lucy Benjamin, Aaron Sidwell, Paola Dionisotti, Sophia Papadopoulos, Peter Moreton, Yasmin Taheri, Emma Tracey, Daniel Ward, Benjamin Westerby, John Tate, Angelina Chudi, Felixe Forde, Jack Humphrey, Al Maxwell, Georgia-Mae Myers, Ibraheem Toure.

Henry VI. Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Stratford-Upon-Avon. Theatre Review. full post

(818 words, estimated 3:16 mins reading time)

Inside No.9: Mr King. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, Annette Badland, Elin Owen, Charlie Baron, Rosie Ekenna, William Newton.

We are continually told to cherish our children, they are after all, our future, the ones who will inherit our mess, the ones who will pay the price for our folly, our ignorance, and mismanagement.

In the world of the macabre and chilling, children though are perhaps the more gruesome of observers in the game of life, ghoulish in the spitefulness, morbid in their fascination of what makes their adult counterparts tick; it is no wonder that some of the finest horror films have had children, or the childlike, at the very heart of their narrative.

Inside No.9: Mr King. Television Review. full post

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

Thunder: Dopamine. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The message is loud and clear, all the right noises have been made, and the interferences of the outside world have been subdued, beaten, and vanquished with the air of authority befitting the band, for Thunder have once more stepped up to the stage and returned with an album that makes the heart quicken, makes the mind active, and all in a natural sense, not a quick hit of addiction in which it seems the multitude always require, but a steady, beefy attraction in which the Dopamine is constant, and pleasurable.

Thunder: Dopamine. Album Review. full post

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

Ann Wilson: Fierce Bliss. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

You shouldn’t judge anything by its cover; except arguably for art itself.

It is to art that one of the grand ladies of Rock, Ann Wilson returns to the centre stage with her brand-new album, Fierce Bliss. Art not only for art’s sake, but one that cements the course she has been on for a while, as a woman who is more than the Heart decrees, and to whom time itself has been cowed into submission by her continued presence in the minds and soul of the fans.

Ann Wilson: Fierce Bliss. Album Review. full post

(386 words, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)

Not Going Out. Series 12. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Lee Mack, Sally Breton, Hugh Dennis, Abigail Cruttenden, Deborah Grant, Geoffrey Whitehead, Tony Gardner, Colin McFarlane, Samantha Spiro, Joselyn Jee Esien, Katie Redford, Jolyon Coy, Gwyneth Powell, Joe Wilkinson, Stephanie Langton, Anil Desai, Max Pattison, Francesca Newman, Finley Southby, Max Willis, Rich Keeble.

It may be a huge claim, but few have scaled such a height in British television comedy that they can be compared so favourably to the legendary, and beloved Tony Hancock.

Not Going Out. Series 12. Television Review. full post

(580 words, estimated 2:19 mins reading time)

Dietrich Strause: You And I Must Be Out Of My Mind. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The pleasure of connection is at times at odds with our own observation. In a world that is willing to disconnect on the advice of the merest whim, on the perceived slight, to still be able to converse with anyone, even if it just your own reason and soul, is a remarkable act of achievement; for to agree with your own self in a world of madness is an act of rebellion where all around you is insisting you declare that You And I Must Be Out Of My Mind.

Dietrich Strause: You And I Must Be Out Of My Mind. Album Review. full post

(420 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

Cabin Boy Jumped Ship: Sentiments. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Feelings, nothing more than the reaction to what has transpired, the opinion of response to stimuli, the external pressure represented by the Sentiments caressed by life; we must always be mindful of these personal views, the gush of blood that can tip the balance one way or the other less we fall into the trap of mawkishness, of the reaction that is not ours to behold.

Cabin Boy Jumped Ship: Sentiments. Album Review. full post

(377 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

SINSID: In Victory. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

In Victory we are either magnanimous to those have beaten, or we allow ourselves to be judged harshly by history as we drown them in a sea of disdain. In any situation, be it a game, in a fight, in war, how we see, and taste triumph is a reflection of our own inadequate nature. Heralding boastful triumph breeds the need to conquer, it damages the nerve of society, and the oppressor is soon adjudged to be on the side of evil, even if was said to have done so with good intentions.

SINSID: In Victory. Album Review. full post

(447 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

The Bordellos: I Hate Pink Floyd Without Syd Barrett. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

If we tell it like it really is, we are likely to alienate a cross selection of people without really trying; whether it comes in the form of an expressed well-researched opinion, or a generalisation that has been brought on by a wider view, the fine line between acceptable discussion and outright personal attack comes just down to the way and how far we are willing to go, to love the corporate machine.

The Bordellos: I Hate Pink Floyd Without Syd Barrett. Album Review. full post

(528 words, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)