Mark Pountney, Gig Review. Liverpool Acoustic Festival 2016, Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There should never be any doubt of the appeal of Mark Poutney for as long as he is able to perform, stand on a stage with head held high and the ever flowing grace that goes with such a smile of enjoyment, for in that performance comes across a musician who is spirited, giving and full of humble character; if the world ever finds itself without compassion in performance then Mark Pountney would surely endeavour to keep it breathing and ticking along until a new heart could be found for the tired old planet.

Mark Pountney, Gig Review. Liverpool Acoustic Festival 2016, Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

The Buffalo Riot, Gig Review. Liverpool Acoustic Festival 2016, Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Riots can come in all shapes and sizes, they can be easily silenced and quelled, they can become so meaningful that revolutions are given birth from their humble beginnings and like all popular uprisings, nearly always stem from one particular cause or pursuit. In the case of the superb The Buffalo Riot, the root cause is simple, the sound is wholesome and harmonious even when for the purposes of an acoustic gig they slim down from their normal five piece to a slender and melody driven twosome.

The Buffalo Riot, Gig Review. Liverpool Acoustic Festival 2016, Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(408 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

High Rise, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast; Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, Elisabeth Moss, Keeley Hawes, Dan Renton Skinner, Sienna Guillory, Enzo Cilenti, Peter Ferdinando, Reece Shearsmith, Augustus Prew, Stacy Martin, Leila Mimmack, Tony Way, Neil Maskell, Alexandra Weaver, Emilia Jones, Victoria Wicks, Bill Paterson, Dylan Edwards, Toby Williams, Eileen Davies, Maggie Cronin.

Brutal and dark, deeply disturbing and a tremendously excellent film, it seems strange then in that case that it has taken the best part of four decades to get J.G. Ballard’s High Rise to the screen but then it would not have had arguably the best actor for the role of the slowly mentally disintegrating Dr. Robert Laing in Tom Hiddleston.

High Rise, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(563 words, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)

Marguerite, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Catherine Frot, André Marcon, Michael Fau, Christa Théret, Denis Mpunga, Sylvain Dieuaide, Aubert Fenoy, Sophia Leboutte, Théo Cholbi, Astrid Whettnall, Vincent Schmitt, Christian Pereira, Martine Pascal, Grégoire Strecker, Jean-Yves Tual, Boris Hybner, Pierre Peyrichout, Joël Bros, Lucie Strourackova, Petra Nesvacilová, Lubos Veselý, Damian Odess-Gillett, Jaroslav Smíd, Iva Paulusova, Jean-Marie Frin, Artemio Benki.

How we deal with the delusions of grandeur in others, even if they cannot see it for themselves is to witness sometimes just how cruel a species we can be, just how far we can allow the unheard ridicule to go; sometimes the effect of such treatments can be devastating.

Marguerite, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(442 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Welcome To The New Reich.

Welcome to the New Reich,

Welcome to the

British Reich,

you might not be able to see the dawn

of the new realm yet

through the glaze of square eyed

television or perhaps you

haven’t felt the terror

seeping in through the gutter,

Welcome to the New Reich.

 

Welcome to the New Reich,

suits you, suits them,

suits for all, boxes

for all, tick boxes, categories, the confidence trick,

just a small cut here, a nip there,

a tuck away for a rainy day,

Welcome To The New Reich. full post

(241 words, estimated 58 secs reading time)

Jump, Over The Top. Album Review.

Liverpool sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

To some the very thought of putting yourself beyond the self imposed or others jealous limitations is a way of keeping control on life, by inflicting their misery upon others it gives them satisfaction that the world will turn but nobody will do something extraordinary with their time on Earth. Every time an artist, an athlete or the adept produce something it tears a little hole in the dissenter’s heart, they just see it as being Over The Top.

Jump, Over The Top. Album Review. full post

(458 words, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

Mike Jacoby, NorthEastSouthWest. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

All points on the compass eventually find a way home if you search long enough. All directions are possible in between if the search is pure and fruitful, it is how you enjoy the journey that truly is the main consideration.

Mike Jacoby, NorthEastSouthWest. Album Review. full post

(419 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

The Man And His Book.

There was a certain element of surprise

when I found out you had been reading

C.S. Lewis in the time

between spare time

and after your morning walk,

no longer with lead in hand

after so many years of boundless joy.

The surprise was split both ways,

mine at you finally reading

a book I first devoured

in dark army ticking blanket

days and under the cover so the Witch

could not see me, yours,

that I knew exactly what you meant

when you said The Horse and his Boy,

The Man And His Book. full post

(154 words, estimated 37 secs reading time)

Down The Dock Road, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Derek Barr, Les Dennis, Paul Duckworth, James Duke, Oliver Farnworth, Michael Ledwich, Nathan McMullen, Conrad Nelson, Andrew Schofield, Daniel Taylor.

If there is an occupation that typifies the city of Liverpool, which the British public think of first when asked what job symbolises the city that gave The Beatles to the world, then surely without doubt the job of the Stevedore or the Dock worker would come out on top.

Down The Dock Road, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(451 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

The Witches, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Sarah Ingram, Fox Jackson-Keen, Karen Mann, Sioned Saunders, Kieran Urquhart, Elexi Walker, Justin Wilman.

There have been so few writers as popular that have written for children who also made an adult crave the attention of the power of the imagination and all its beautiful trappings and escapism as that of Roald Dahl, that no matter your age or disposition, it is arguably impossible to turn your head away from the innocence on offer and the underlying tones of rebellion, adventure and childish revolt that go hand in hand across the works of the Welsh born writer.

The Witches, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(432 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)