Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version Of War Of The Worlds, Theatre Review. Dominion Theatre, London.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Liam Neeson, Michael Praed, Madalena Alberto, Jimmy Nail, Heide Range, Daniel Bedingfield, David Essex, Jerry Wayne, Will Barratt, Ethan Bradshaw, Charlie Bell, Antony Hansen, Matt Holland, Tash Holway, Chris Jenkins, Grace McKee, Jack Mitchell, Marios Nicolaidos, Simon Shorten, Jodie Steele.

The music is still the same, the feeling of beauty, of enormity unchanged from its conception and aside from the last arena tour, more than able to bring a tear to the eye of anyone who has taken Jeff Wayne’s musical War of the Worlds to their hearts; yet as the production enters a new phase of performance, the dynamic has shifted, it now resonates with a feeling of positive creativity and the truth of theatre, that all should be able to see the actors reactions to the immensity, the scale of the music on offer.

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version Of War Of The Worlds, Theatre Review. Dominion Theatre, London. full post

(502 words, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

War In Panama.

And war in Panama is brewing,

wouldn’t it be good

to see casualties of the V.I.P

taken down by their greed

and own monetary insanity,

let the bloodletting begin,

squeeze the leech

pump out its spew

and let it leave its head burrow

into the veins and through the one

way streets of blood clotting

agents, let the blood be cleansed

and maybe perhaps Panama

will be the first to fall

in the new revolution,

let Panama fall

and maybe the circus

War In Panama. full post

(109 words, estimated 26 secs reading time)

Immaterial Girl.

There was a scent of snot filled contempt

in her young squeaky voice,

the type that grated against the ears

and made the natural defence

of wax crumble in alarm,

erect, proud and sniggering

“I don’t care”,

she squealed

with a high pitched whine,

“who they are, I don’t listen to anything

that was made before I was born,

it is immaterial to me,

you’re all weird really, why can’t you listen

to something now and hip?”

With that she snapped her fingers

Immaterial Girl. full post

(318 words, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)

Molotov Jukebox, Tropical Gypsy. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is a certain romance to the idea of the nomadic gypsy life, it captures a distinct flavour that adds headiness and charm to the mundane of life and one that is steeped in historic values and colourful, vibrant principles. It is a way of life that makes the listener and onlooker think of music, of dark gatherings over burning desires and hot blooded fires and one so wonderfully echoed in the second album by Molotov Jukebox, the enrapturing Tropical Gypsy.

Molotov Jukebox, Tropical Gypsy. Album Review. full post

(392 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Nick Ellis, Grace & Danger. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There are moments in life in which to treasure something is to accept that eventually it can no longer be yours; that eventually you have to either let it breathe and run on its own so that it can thrill others or you put it in a dark vault, you lock it away forever and let it slide, damaged, unloved and gasping for air, into obscurity.

Nick Ellis, Grace & Danger. Album Review. full post

(398 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Pleasure House, Cyan. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is a kind of magic that explodes with delight when the thought of a band from the Birmingham area makes a single or album that is infectious and interesting to listen to. The comparisons between Liverpool and the Midlands, especially when it comes to its music appreciation, are many fold and yet despite the allusions to the 60s and 70s heydays when bands could mix freely and their tunes would overlap, such is the distinction now that it feels more rare than a night out on Broad Street being enjoyed by a theatre goer and a hen party taking in the delights of the Alexandra Theatre.

Pleasure House, Cyan. Single Review. full post

(327 words, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

I Mention You In Passing.

I mention you in a question

posed by a journalistic poet,

a man with his own band

and space in a city filled

with endeavour and I believe

that you made me the person

I am today,

a little wary

a bit private

but open one hopes

to the grill and pleasant e-mail

that connects you and I

to where I am now.

 

Without you I know, it meant nothing.

without time in your bosom

nurturing me, even when

I raged against everything

I Mention You In Passing. full post

(189 words, estimated 45 secs reading time)

A Girl Is A Half Formed Thing, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Aoife Duffin.

The stigma of certain actions undertaken when young never truly leave you, certain deeds done against you are always apt to bark in the dark and the misery or the grief reaped is enough to send you spiralling if there is nothing to stay your hand or guide you away from the water’s edge. In a time when particular individuals in Ireland could almost get away with anything because of who they were and what they represented, Eimear McBride’s A Girl Is A Half Formed Thing is a play of terrifying beauty and compassion.

A Girl Is A Half Formed Thing, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Day One Of Four For Glory’s First Shot At Augusta National Golf Club.

With Glory’ first shot under way, the sunshine that beats down onto the Augusta greens looks on enviously as every piece of grass looks as though it has been cut individually with a pair of scissors. On the opening day of the Masters 2016, it might come down to planning, fortitude and will that will prevail for glory’s first shot.

Day One Of Four For Glory’s First Shot At Augusta National Golf Club. full post

(497 words, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

Cold In Thought.

It is cold out here in the April night…

for the Spring brings round

once again the thoughts

of bitter, distant feeling

and the detachment

from those I once held so dear.

 

In winter I can hold off the tales

of chilly formality by stoking

the fires of resentment,

my own poke in the gas filled grate

of which I would never

speak out loud.

 

In summer, the lazy days

in which the sun burns

down and turns the river bed

Cold In Thought. full post

(232 words, estimated 56 secs reading time)