Slit Tongue.

 

Some people will slit their tongue

in half

to prove that they have something to say,

that they can be different, entertaining,

shock value

express, a picture in which they defy

even the unconventional

and the actively irregular, slit tongue,

twice the lies, double the truth

with saliva dripping forked tongue.

Some will manage this feat

without even resorting to surgery.

 

Ian D. Hall 2018

Jethro Tull, Gig Review. Auditorium, Echo Arena, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

All things must pass, all things must be realised, including the moment when you might see an artist for the final time, plying their trade, putting the finishing touches to the great epic, the last fingernail on the finger that touches God, or the finale, the flute of a genius put down beside his leg, stiff-arched and relaxed after a show in which many would perhaps suggest would be the last time they know to be in the company of one who has left arguably more than most in this precious life of ours. All things must end, as George Harrison once duly noted; however it doesn’t mean you cannot have a feast of brilliance brought to the table as you say possible and intended goodbyes.

Rumours of Fleetwood Mac, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2018).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Imitation, so they demand, is the greatest form of flattery, yet as the Philharmonic Hall resounded to the songs of one of the greatest groups, the most dynamic, and arguably one of the most beautifully headstrong and verging on the forever self destructible, Fleetwood Mac, the sense of proportion given to the tired old clichéd phrase, was to be scorned, was to be left alone in a corner where all clichés must finally rest and disappear when in the face of the overwhelming evidence before the crowd’s eyes, that this was not imitation, this was not an impression of glory, this was genuine, heartfelt and authentic in every way possible, this was no idle gossip masquerading as truth, this was Rumours of Fleetwood Mac in their home town being simply awesome.

A Quiet Place. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Noah Jupe, Millicent Simmonds, Leon Russom, Cade Woodward, Doris McCarthy.

We make too much noise, the world is permanently awake through the need to be heard, to have our ideas, our wishes and dreams explored and sung from the highest possible place and to have it echo through other’s ears. We are getting louder, as a species we are dominant in the sound that we create and soon even that quiet place of contemplation we seek, is not going to be a haven of tranquillity, it is going to be a prison in which we realise we have squandered a great gift.

Ghost Stories. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Andy Nyman, Martin Freeman, Paul Whitehouse, Alex Lawther, Paul Warren, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Nicholas Burns, Louise Atkins, Lesley Harcourt, Amy Doyle, Deborah Wastell, Daniel Hill, Christine Dalby, Jill Halfpenny, Billy Sneddon, Maggie McCarthy, Joe Osborne, Maria Major, Ramzan Miah, Benji Ming, Emily Carding, Leonard Byrne, Macie Allen, Ryan Oliva, Samuel Bottomly, Jake Davies, Oliver Woollford, Callum Goulden, Mike Aarons, Derren Brown, Anthony Davis.

Blockers. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating *

Cast: Leslie Mann, John Cena, Romana Young, Kathryn Newton, Ike Barinholtz, Gina Gershon, June Diane Raphael, Gary Cole, Miles Robbins, Geraldine Viswanathan, Graham Phillips, Gideon Adlon, Hannibal Burgess, Colton Dunn, Sarayu Blue, Jake Picking, Jimmy Bellinger.

Think of all the times you have been somewhere and you have felt the excruciating wrench in your stomach which says, you made a wrong choice bud, you messed up pretty good, and the final demand of, well perhaps it cannot get any worse. There have been many moments of those in cinema, there will be a plethora, a veritable feast of cringe more in the big screen’s future but few arguably will surely be seen in the light of day, be buffeted the cold wind of slapped foreheads, than the intensely unlikeable Blockers.

Troy: Fall Of A City. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Louis Hunter, Bella Dayne, Joseph Mawle,  David Threlfall,   Christiaan Schoombie, Jonas Armstrong, David Avery, Carl Beukes, Garth Breytenbach, Alfred Enoch, Chris Fisher, David Gyasi, Johnny Harris, Lex King, Chloe Pirrie, Waldemar Schultz, Amy Louise Wilson, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Frances O’Connor, Tom Weston-Jones , Inge Beckmann, Shamilla Miller.

The Furious Seasons, Now Residing Abroad. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

What does it mean when you feel like a stranger in the country you were born into, that your parents and grandparents held their hand on their collective hearts and swore loyalty and fidelity to those they entrusted to make decisions that would make their way of life better, make those of the generations that followed, stand out, be seen as wholesome and pure.

The Kris Barras Band, The Divine And The Dirty. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

We are more than just a line in the sand, the choice between the devilish and the angelic is not confined to a stereo type or the restrictive views of judge, jury and the executioner of the fountain pen and typewriter. We all have the capacity to be both The Divine And The Dirty in this game we stumble through, it is just the matter of someone else’s perspective to see which side we fall upon.