Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Richard Ede, Olivia Greene, Andrew Hodges, Rob Witcomb.
The secrets of The 39 Steps have long been discussed, bandied around the drawing rooms of gentleman clubs and inner circles of foreign governments for such a long time that the dashing pencil moustache and rugged figure of Richard Hannay positively quivers at the thought of saving the country from the dastardly plot afoot.
A maverick with moustache,
whiskers like crinkle cut oven chip
all oiled marvellously into shape
and the eccentricity
to see Time melt away, is still
a conformist if they don’t believe
in anarchy, that the rebel without
a cause and who only talks
of days when revolution can be painted,
is only in truth
neither individual or machine,
the Salvador Dalek
of the artistic world.
There is no insanity to this work,
it is no one of a kind
to find
Deposit fifty cents in English
and you will see the Queen
of New York strip, pull back the latch,
take in the scene and I promise
that the eyes will widen
and the legs will turn to jelly
for behind the peep show here
in the greatest city on Earth,
for about a minute,
you will feel royalty,
you my English friend will understand
the true meaning of being
the King of Times Square.
The Peep show, vaguely understood,
randomly implicit, silently mistaken,
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9.5/10
From supplying music at a book launch to the overwhelming argument that you were at the very best during one of Liverpool’s iconic festivals, to Eleanor Nelly, all things must be seen as just part of growing up with the very finest of supporters in her corner, her dear mother, and being immersed into the very fabric of Liverpool music at such a young tender age; yet they must also be seen as proof, as if proof were ever needed, that she is one of the most highly respected young musicians around.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Musicians seem to grow up so fast, unlike for example the poet who allows themselves to remain in touch with a child like wonder, the steely resolve in the eye never a truly fixed point of emotional glory, the musician has to hold onto life with grim fascination, a singular vision of hope and only then do they allow whimsy and beauty to nestle in their hearts.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Momentum is a fundamental part of existence, a primary source of life continuing and not being forced into a habit of stagnation and immobility; to keep momentum going past the point where others start to fade into the quiet reserves of undignified amusement, something must happen to keep that life buoyant and fresh, it must allow the new to become part of the everyday.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The old mill towns of England, forgotten in part by the majority of people who have no idea of the part they played in the life of Victorian Britain, the generations of people who suffered the back breaking work that kept a certain class of person in well heeled clothing and semi stature and who were among the first to pay the price of two World Wars in the country, these old mill towns still have their part to play in the fabric of 21st Century Britain but like the past, found their role sometimes airbrushed by spite, jealousy and plain ignorance. It is an ignorance put to shame by the likes of the fantastic Ook and the Elephant.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Denis Parkinson is a quiet, thoughtful and selfless man, it probably accounts for the feeling of serenity that can be felt in the soul as you listen to him perform, after all nobody could ever pull off that type of demeanour, that show of attentiveness to their music if they were anything but contemplative and absorbed in producing a song with some much grace in it.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Derek King may not have been scheduled to perform at this year’s Liverpool Acoustic day at Threshold but nobody would ever complain if he was to get up out of one of the comfortable seats, make his way past the overflowing bar and sidestep the coats, the note takers and the musically in groove to have got up on stage and played a couple of his much admired songs before gently returning to the audience and watching the reminder of the day go past with a smile on his face.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
As Threshold goes from strength to strength so too does Liverpool Acoustic’s near legendary Saturday set inside the Baltic Social; the complete takeover of the sound that emanates around the building as if a good branch of witchcraft or wizardry was involved in providing sanctuary for songs and music of every conceivable acoustic fashion.
It is a partnership that works wonderfully, Threshold and Liverpool Acoustic and it is no wonder when the aims are the same and the cause is more just than a knight of old perched upon a gleaming stallion, lance in hand and sworn to protect the sound of a acoustic guitar and the lyrical response; it is a day in the calendar not to miss.