I Thought They Were Dead.

I thought they were dead

as they slept in daylight hours,

vampire like with pale grim faces

and under stubble they lay.

Death would be a release

some might say, wrapped

in their own ivy, cheered by their own disease,

but as the underpass

feels the cool thunder of running traffic

and exhausts compassionately

spewing its own toxic hue

in the memories of those with eyes closed

and for us, those that walk on by

with either disgust in their eyes

or sadness under their taught cheekbones

Thom Morecroft, After The Rain. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

When you have found yourself listening to a piece of music that leaves you feeling invigorated, refreshed and ready for the battle ahead, whilst simultaneously leaving the very best of thoughts, grace and boundless enthusiasm, then it is a piece of music to savour and cherish. For Thom Morecroft, the genial and certainly impressive import from the Midlands, his new E.P., After The Rain, is like finding out who Kenny Dalglish was after Liverpool signed him from Celtic or understanding just how good Lindsey Buckingham was after he first performed with Fleetwood Mac.

Footsteps In The Shadows, Theatre Review. The City of Liverpool College, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Will Smith, Harleyia Heffey, Adam Leyland, Chloe Ogburn, Phil Rayner, Murren McFarlane, Bryony Doyle, John Stephenson, Shannon Haugh, Dorcas Sebuyange, Ian Smith, Mikey Gordon, Jamie Forbes, Kate Bricknal, James Bibby.

There are just some people in the world to whom evil is not a strong enough word to describe them; that their very actions on this Earth are to be considered so vile, so despicable that it is impossible to show any remorse for them. To take them on as a character within a film or a play is almost to feel as if you are opening up a crack in life that should be left alone; however that then would detract from the story that must be told as a warning so others are prepared for the Footsteps In The Shadows.

Jonny & The Baptists, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Jonny Donahue, Paddy Gervers

Death is inevitable, the planet more or less will become more fragile and yes perhaps we have gone past the tipping point where extinction is possible, yet at the end of the day there is still time for comedy and satire; after all aren’t those who continue to put us in the mess we like to roll around in, worth it? The world may be on a collision course with the apocalypse, of irreversible climate change but there is still time to enjoy two men on stage take a light hearted but smack on look at what it actually means to be told The End Is Nigh

I Hate Clowns.

I don’t want to see a nation

I love tear itself apart in some

circus game, where the acrobats tumble

and where the ringmaster is but an illusion

to the real owner and stand by creators of the game,

the clowns waiting for their time

in the sun, the hideous ghoulish and rabid

fiends whose smile is painted on with glee

and self loathing despair. I hate clowns,

I hate clowns, they’re creepy fuckers

and they stick in the mind in anarchy

and whilst revolution and change is good for the soul,

Robin Trower, Where Are You Going To. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

His name is etched in stone across the ages, from his native Catford to the having the world’s music lovers know him by sense of feeling and depth of character, he is the man who can make a guitar sound as if it is loved, adored and purr gently in the night by the fireside in contentment and gentle repose. In Robin Trower all things are possible because he doesn’t just play the guitar to make an audience listen; he plays it to make it weep, to make the crowd think and in all such things beauty is attained.

Staggs, Robotomy/Don’t Call Me Satan. Singles Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be, now we have the ability to gloss over the sepia and rose coloured times in which the past would have us believe was all that happened, that there was no bleak or feelings of disharmony or abandonment within society; that it was all a bad dream which we can forget and move on till the next time society and Time decide to take us apart.

Rubble.

There’s a taste of rubble in the air,

of the brick dust that an old house

in decline, stooping towards memoriam

and grave side recollections, of times when

the happiness and tired old peculiar

went hand in hand, that the walls become sensitive

to the slightest knock and the whisper of the gradual

and inevitable to come; it is in that taste of rubble,

of brick dust, hanging wires and a couch past its best

but hugged in the dead of night when sleep

evades the would be dreamer,

The Joke, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Will Adamsdale, Brian Logan, Lloyd Hutchinson.

Ever feel that the Cosmos is having a huge laugh at your expense, that despite your best efforts and sincerity in making a difference in the world, eventually you will find out to the annoyance of your sanity that The Joke has been always on you. In a world of stereotypes, of labels and typecast ideas, The Joke is always one that become stale and flat; unless you have the genius of Will Adamsdale and his fellow actors on stage giving it the absolute sparkle needed to make 80 minutes become inventive, novel and wonderfully unsullied.

The Saxophone In Search Of Love.

The iron gates provided the back drop

to the sound of the saxophone

exploring its way up the hill towards

the rampant hostages of wine, women

and unlikely song birds hanging

in the explosion of Tuesday night

football and angry flash

points of possible danger and caress

driven anxiety; the odd yellow card

and scowl as the touch of thigh

through opaque stockings

was to some a thrill they were willing to chase

in the darkness of self deluded heroics.

 

The night air was blissful as the saxophone