It is hard not to rate yourself,
compare your existence
to that of the smashed avocado
when wondering how you fit in
a world that gave you a voice,
you see that green filling
spread all over a piece of toast
and you wonder first
whatever happened to the black pudding,
when did the mug of builders’ tea
and the steam covering the waitress’s face
give way to a coffee that costs more
than you ever paid for your first piece of vinyl,
when did it become O.K. to have your name
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
It would have undoubtedly pleased, intrigued, even fascinated the late, great Adrian Henri to have witnessed Horny Handed Tons Of Soil, not least for the acknowledgment of one of the three revered poets of the city of Liverpool but because of its absolute beauty. To be seen as beyond a performance, more of a living, breathing entity in which poetry becomes fine art, morphs into a moment of true artistic temperament which has been nursed and raised by more than just a tender loving of words, which has music, mood and movement sewn into its very fabric.
Emerging from the spotlight glare,
I watched, enraptured, spooked by the divine,
the whispering ghost of poetry, of words
teased out and song like, capturing the mood,
capturing the daylight pulse, sweetly tempered
by a trumpet which plays in the ether
and calls to the angels, they have to find room
somewhere, for here on Earth, it seems one
has escaped and sinks her blush free lips into
a mortal man’s vision, tasting it in her mouth,
tasting it go round and round, sideways
she chews it over, relishing the genius
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
They say live music is in trouble, that the venues are closing down and the ones that stay open are only there for the niche markets and the out and out cover bands. Yes, it is hard to disagree with the fact that more venues have shut their doors for the last time but live music is not dead, it is breathing healthily, what it requires is the care and duty bound honour of going in search of something new, a band or an artist starting out to whom might never see the inside of a mega sized arena, that what they are doing it for is the special bond of the acoustic set or the desire of Electric Love.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The idea of starting over is enough to fill some with dread, push them into the unexpected quarter of retreating from what they know and becoming a shadow of themselves, a spirit to whom their lives that they knew meant to much and now they cannot function in the cold light of further inspection, of performing solo when they once had a partnership in which to hold onto.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Vanessa Schofield, Perry Moore, Suzanne Ahmet, Andrew Price, Howard Chadwick, Victoria Brazier, Anthony Hunt, Darren Kuppan, Claire Storey, Paul Barnhill.
It is often the case to congratulate Northern Broadsides when they come to Liverpool, a much loved theatre company to who much has always been appreciated and taken to the audience’s hearts, they have always given themselves the hardest of challenges by producing theatre that has struck a chord with the times we find ourselves in.
On the day they line the streets,
I hope they remember to smile.
There should be no tears falling,
not in this place, only in the comfort
of a joke well told, the punch line
creating laughter
in the crowd, for on this day
as they line the streets for a son of Liverpool,
waving tatty-bye for now, tickle sticks
in hand, clutched tight, remember
the man brought joy,
one that cannot be replaced.
Ian D. Hall 2018
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Life is too hectic, too full, often packed with the meaningless and trivial, moments that bog you down as you search through the thicket, past the mire that surrounds the willows and the ash, the knotted stumps and the hollows that infest and give the forest of life its charm, its grandeur and its dense thickness in which noting, light, air or a soul can break free from.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
To carry the tender voice onwards is nothing short of a great gift to bestow upon those who have left us behind as their own great adventure carries on. In the same way that we lauded and praised our ancestors in songs of memory in times that may seem alien to us, the practise, the joy of singing to our parents or grandparents, of remembering them in verse or poetic stance, be they heroic or just kind, it is a race memory we still follow, even if we have no understanding of the reasons why we do it, and just believe that it is there because it is a beautiful thing to do.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
We all fight battles that nobody else considers to be of much interest, that we show a face to the world in which some will only remark upon with clarity and foresight, normally the people just pass by, it is to be expected that their lives will always matter more to them than your own, it is not kind but it is natural.