Steve Hackett, Gig Review. O2 Arena, London. Stone Free Festival.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Progressive Rock royalty comes in many different forms, many distinct tastes and moments that in the end the fans list could so wildly dissimilar that they would surely encompass the whole colourful spectrum. It is in the nature of such lists that one name would positively stand out, would always grab the attention of the crowd, Steve Hackett, the quiet man of Progressive Rock but also arguably the most prestigious and creatively entertaining; it is no wonder that he was amongst the headline musicians for the inaugural Stone Free Festival.

Steve Hackett, Gig Review. O2 Arena, London. Stone Free Festival. full post

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

Mongrel.

Mongrel,

or mixed heritage

invader blood in my heart

conquered and crushed,

victor and heroic warlords

on the battlefield,

the result of taken or ceded

I am a mongrel,

I have no true country

only safe land from water,

only safe land from war,

the grandchild of an immigrant

the grandchild of Cornwall,

potent mix dating back centuries

and now you want me to hate

you want me to condemn

that even my own blood borne out of pillage

and deceit and war and conquered lands,

Mongrel. full post

(134 words, estimated 32 secs reading time)

Michael Monroe, Gig Review. Indigo, London. Stone Free Festival.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There are front men and then there are showmen, there are those that intrigue and those that captivate with their sheer physical presence, Michael Monroe sits firmly in the camp of showmen and captivating and it was a label he was more than happy to play up to with a certain amount of rock regal stance as he strutted upon the Indigo stage at the o2 with a gleaming smile and stone tight good attitude.

Michael Monroe, Gig Review. Indigo, London. Stone Free Festival. full post

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

Therapy?, Gig Review. Indigo, London. Stone Free Festival.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It always feels right to have some Therapy? in your life, it is just a shame that the therapy some need, all they require, is not available upon the N.H.S., if it was there would be a lot more contented people out there. For the therapy they need comes in the shape and form of one of Northern Ireland’s great bands and as they blew away the Indigo Stage on a Saturday afternoon, as they paved the way for the main event in the other hall, the feeling was perhaps they might have been given the chance to really go to town as one of the big four acts inside the o2 Arena.

Therapy?, Gig Review. Indigo, London. Stone Free Festival. full post

(367 words, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

The Darkness, Gig Review. O2 Arena, London. Stone Free Festival.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

It is hard when you are on the edges, when thrown to the sides like an outcast sat at the city gates, looking for scraps of comfort and knowing that deep down your thoughts are about as welcome as the plague, but as you sit in the far reaches of a gathering and you don’t get the hype, the sentimental leaning of those caught in the whirlwind of supposed excitement at the front of the stage, the slight stance of indifference towards the middle and the abject mind wanderings at the back, that just how you are supposed to feel about The Darkness.

The Darkness, Gig Review. O2 Arena, London. Stone Free Festival. full post

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

Jared James Nichols, Gig Review. Indigo, London. Stone Free Festival.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Jared James Nichols, a name to which let the tongue enjoy the sensation of longing, of powerful beginnings and the concept in the mind of just what is to come over the period of time infront of us, for in Mr. Nichols lays the future and he is great company.

Jared James Nichols, Gig Review. Indigo, London. Stone Free Festival. full post

(405 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

Alice Cooper, Gig Review. O2 Arena, London. Stone Free Festival.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The master looks down from the pulpit on high and sees the heaving throng, the swelling mass of humanity, writhe in a perpetual rhythm before him, and the scene registers visibly as one to make experienced eyes well up with pride. For Alice Cooper, the veteran of the shock rock musical hall extravaganza, this may have been the only performance in the U.K. during the whole of 2016 but it was one that was steeped in glory, in beauty and dripping with excitement from the off.

Alice Cooper, Gig Review. O2 Arena, London. Stone Free Festival. full post

(394 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Today I Am Uncomfortable.

Today I am uncomfortable

in my own knotted skin,

I don’t know how to react

to the stimuli of life, the poison

I drink in, that I want

to swallow by the lungful, the sea

that I wish to drown in as I sweat,

at the prospect of another day

excusing ghosts of their past,

whilst still condemning myself

to death everyday.

 

Ian D. Hall 2016

Permanent link to this post (70 words, estimated 17 secs reading time)

How The Other Half Loves, Theatre Review. Haymarket Theatre, London.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Nicholas Le Prevost, Jenny Seagrove, Tamzin Outhwaite, Jason Merrells, Gillian Wright, Matthew Cottle.

The perils of the affair, something that Alan Ayckbourn has spent his entire career getting a laugh out of, of making audiences take a look at themselves in the mirror and seeing just how farcical British morals are at times when confronted with a wrongly worded phrase of seduction and the results of a misunderstood feeling; it might never be how you live your life but it is certainly the impression of How The Other Half Loves.

How The Other Half Loves, Theatre Review. Haymarket Theatre, London. full post

(417 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

True London.

Life, love and understanding

in the inviting alleyways that stem

out of every pore of real London,

teeming London, rank

and file, true blessed, authentic

and crowded

and congested

and swarming heartbeat London,

where Underground darkness

bathes in existence and light…

I love your streets and the historic new,

the passion in the frank,

beer crashing, dimpled glasses, London Pride,

that swallows in the smoke

and the grated conversation

over dying trades; reminding

me of New York but poorer but no less sincere.

 

True London. full post

(208 words, estimated 50 secs reading time)