Memory Girl, Gig Review. Craft Taproom, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Embrace the change of revolution, the quake of personal transformation, for if you look closely under the skin, what you find is not conversion but innovation, an advancement in the original and yet one with all the attributes, positivity and panache that first came along and made you sit up and take notice of the uniqueness in the initial meeting.

It is to one of the much loved performers that has lit up the Liverpool scene in the last decade, Natalie McCool, that innovation, change, revolution has come along and gone on to prove that form is always temporary, and that class is permanent.

Memory Girl, Gig Review. Craft Taproom, Liverpool. full post

(453 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Dean Friedman, Gig Review. Capstone Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There are some people on this planet to whom the gift of a smile in their direction is not enough to display the gratitude we owe them for making us happy, for giving us a gift of happiness that can never be fully repaid; some artists, family and friends deserve the longest of hugs and the full appreciation of a room of warm and loving applause, some will never perhaps know just how the simple act of a single song written means the world to thousands.

Dean Friedman, Gig Review. Capstone Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(448 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

I Thought I Might Be Jet Li But It Turns Out That I’m Not, Theatre Review. Sennheiser Studio, L.I.P.A., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Nathan McGowran, Duncan Riches, Stephen Smith.

Life feels like just an act, a play in which we are duty bound to perform at all times, in which the moment we forget our lines, someone else is apt to dive straight in and take over, receiving the glory, the adulation from the press and the crowds who stopped to look our way, and the wry comments of speculation of what they are going to do next. Meanwhile, we stand there shouting to the world, finding the place in which we can rejoin the pace and the set down words; but knowing we will now forever be playing catch up.

I Thought I Might Be Jet Li But It Turns Out That I’m Not, Theatre Review. Sennheiser Studio, L.I.P.A., Liverpool. full post

(454 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

The Boston Shakers, Wasted. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There is nothing wasted when it comes to the energy of The Boston Shakers, there is enough raw power and passion to make the natural flow of volcanic lava that heats the Icelandic homes and business feel as though it is superfluous to the public need; such has been the immensity of the music performed and captured by the Liverpool based band that the thought of anything wasted is be dismissed as folly.

The Boston Shakers, Wasted. Album Review. full post

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

Keith Lally, Don’t Bring Me Down. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Whether you rain on someone’s parade or spoil the day’s mojo, to bring someone down is perhaps the most injurious of crimes you can inflict upon another person’s mood or psyche; occasionally you might need to commit such an act to prevent harm from coming to them, from stopping them making the absolute fool of themselves, but that is always acceptable, welcome in some cases, but you should never go out of your way to make someone else feel bad about themselves just so that you can smile, smile and yet be a villain.

Keith Lally, Don’t Bring Me Down. E.P. Review. full post

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

Kangarillapig, Superbrain. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The comrades in arms, the unifying force that drives and spurs any band on, it is, in essence, or at least hope, a collective, a meeting of wills and minds that have a single goal, it might come from different directions and have perhaps alternative motives behind it. The merging of ideas and playful synaptic fusing is important, and in this group collective, the Superbrain kicks in and when produced with empathy and desire, the wit and reasoning of the goal becomes clear.

Kangarillapig, Superbrain. Album Review. full post

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

Roger Pugh, A Colourful Journey. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The combination of the concept album and your own life story is an intriguing proposition to contemplate setting down on paper and recording for future generations to study and hopefully enjoy; it is the big stage and great work of literature in which you are truly the subject, the musical autobiography in which the songs flow with a charming pulse and dynamic purpose and one in which your words are more important than those assigned to you by third party preaching.

Roger Pugh, A Colourful Journey. Album Review. full post

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

The Beast Wore Garlands.

 

In winter, you are a naked beast

that makes the imagination run

and tumble, no matter the age.

This exposure as the first drifts

of snow stand fast against your body,

parting the branch and making the harsh light

of the torch explode and reflect

upon this desolate season, a monster hiding in the shadows,

ready to reach out, twigged gnarled fingers

groping in the dark and bitter air,

catching the passer by with surprise

as the light dies early in December’s grasp.

Yet this beast, of old Nordic tales,

The Beast Wore Garlands. full post

(145 words, estimated 35 secs reading time)

Othello, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Emma Bispham, Patrick Brennan, Paul Duckworth, Marc Elliott, Cerith Flinn, Leah Gould, Emily Hughes, Golda Rosheuvel.

Photograph used with kind permission by the Everyman Theatre and Jonathan Keenan.

Change a moment, whisper down the ears of others around you words of sweet poison, let the drip of misinformation gather pace and be content in watching the world, which was at peace, rip itself apart and burn itself to a cinder. It is in such actions that happiness falls, that death is chased by murder and hatred festers.

Othello, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Steve Hill, The One Man Blues Rock Band. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There is no history to the overnight sensation, the back story, the will and the desire are rarely played upon, it is all very sudden and instant, the immediate that gives way to the soon forgotten, the very best are those that gradually come up through sheer hard work, determination and set back after disappointment, hard times after frustration. It is in the satisfaction of knowing for a while that you were your best friend, harshest critic and withstood the pressure of being the only one to believe that makes The One Man Blues Rock Band you pursued, all the more sweeter.

Steve Hill, The One Man Blues Rock Band. Album Review. full post

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