I had wanted to go home,
my day, not what I
had planned for myself,
had consisted of feeling the bitterness,
of remaining
in my bed with no radio
to soothe the soul,
instead it culminated
with being outside,
the soft sounds of Jonathan Walker fighting
in the cold
and the strength of wind
biting chunks of my resolve,
of the vestiges of my tormented will,
as the snarl came from behind me
thick and strong
but not to my face,
There is a danger of meeting a hero, even if it is one dressed in flamboyant oversized dress, a huge wig that would not be out of place in a revival of a Georgian period comedy and the sound of laughter forthcoming across the various parts of the Epstein Theatre as they wind down on a day in which their Pantomime cast has run a mock and been interviewed to within an inch of their lives.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
When an international star makes their debut appearance in the city it is the duty of all who profess to love music to get to the venue and bathe in the splendour of the moment; especially when that star has been credited as one of Elvis’ favourites and who has thrilled millions for decades.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Such is the hypocrisy embedded in the national psyche that it allowed the dichotomy of the 60s to be one where the flowering of the nation started to really take great strides forward in terms of art and enjoyment but it allowed the self appointed harbingers of supposed moral supremacy to flourish unchecked and take down those they found to be objectionable; it is always a pleasure therefore surely to watch a singer who upset the blue rinse guardian Mary Whitehouse.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
In a world that is slowly being preserved in amber, from a period when a hit single truly meant something and was as precious as a polished gem, to have three members of the same band not only on stage and singing with the serenity of a bird that is free to look down from edge of space and see nothing but the Universe’s wide mouth expectation above it, but also doing it with ease, friendliness and smiles, it is enough to give hope to an audience that has seen so many of its traditions fall aside and be swept away by the modern age.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There are moments that you are sure that music will live forever, it might change, it could evolve, the cycle of what is sexy and what is indescribable nonsense will change, it will revolve and switch across the generations and the genres but one thing is undeniable, that great music that defined the beat of a generation, that a voice that can make a person swoon and another’s heart race faster even after 50 years is apt to be a bit special.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The world has not just gone mad, it is barely holding on to its fragile sanity, the cracks have well and truly appeared and there are many to whom the natural symbiosis of humanity and compassion has taken leave, they shout as all tyrants do of conquer and borders but they have no idea of the history in which they dismantle, of the destruction wrought in their name and yet they keep demanding to have the country or their planet back.
We are caught between two rising,
resurrected and revived Mammoths,
what chance did we,
the children of the atomic clock,
have against the generation of the
Baby Boomer and the Millennial
who look down upon Generation X
as if we caused all the problems in the world
we inherited it from the Victorians
and we could not get a word in edge ways
as children, suffer the silence,
suffer the disdain, suffer the attacks of personality
that Generation X are feckless, that we
were the generation of the cultural shift
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Adam Mohoney, Kerry Wells, Emily Darley, John Rand, Ben Small, Dawn Geary, George Goetzee, Sue Fawkes, Glyn Edwards.
It is not always about what is perceived to go on within the confines of a stage that makes a particular stand out memory for those honoured enough to see it or take time out of their lives to watch it, it is the knowledge of how deeply personal it is to the cast and how incredibly hard they have worked in overwhelming circumstances to make it happen, the sheer will, the graft and the pleasure, it can only be a case of Our Will against those who fight against such positivity.
Heaven 17’s Glenn Gregory at the Liverpool 02 Academy, October 2016.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Any genre of music requires its founding fathers, its elder statesmen and women, the ones who made the dream of a generation and the bane of a previous one, to stand up, take control and be magnificent in the face of possible adversity and obliging redemption.