Wyvern Lingo, Gig Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The warmth of the night inside The Empire Theatre was due mostly by the voices of excited chatter, of local fans hugging themselves in delight at the thought of getting tickets for the first big Rock act of the year to come to Liverpool. It was in that warmth, that glow of spirit to go beyond the enclosures of work and home for probably the first time this year for many, that the heat rose as the flush of thousand hearts made the theatre feel as homely, and as noisy as it did.

Wyvern Lingo, Gig Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

In Search Of That Awesome Conversation.

In what was once The Head of Steam,

the oldest friends stare at what was now

and smiled for having survived

the what could have been,

if she had said yes at seventeen

and the inevitable destruction

of youthful dreams,

for in the space that

was distanced by the sound

of Tuesday night shrill,

the feminine arsenal load of cheap wine

fuelled by the required by thunderous

glass and ear-splitting bitten down

eye, cross at the volume that such nights bring,

the two old friends know, that this moment,

In Search Of That Awesome Conversation. full post

(132 words, estimated 32 secs reading time)

Soundscape, Voice Of Reason. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

In a land where myths and tales of old meets the 21st Century gothic land of modern Noir, it really falls to the Progressive to make the two ends combine and function in a way that allows the light to shine through the darkness and the one eyed threatening mysterious to swallow the embittered weighty illumination on offer; in some kind of cosmic dance, the light and the shade are balanced in an effective Voice of Reason.

Soundscape, Voice Of Reason. Album Review. full post

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

Roseanna Ball, Time. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Time in the end is all we have as the song goes and for some Time is more than just the passing of the day and the wonderment of a journey, Time is the ability to look back and mourn, to sense the loss acutely and to be able to capture it in such a way that it evokes memories, that it invokes life to its fullest potential. For Time is Roseanna Ball’s ally, friend and patient confident; Time is what she has.

Roseanna Ball, Time. Album Review. full post

(355 words, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)

That One Final Perfect Kiss.

I have bled

and no doubt will bleed again,

the only thing I am unsure of

is the reason why

and the moment Time decrees when.

I have bled and stopped the pain,

I have laughed it off

for that is what civilisation decrees,

that life doesn’t mind you suffering,

it just doesn’t want to see you

remonstrate, crawl into the skin

or take refuge

in the beautiful bosom

of Death, it’s not very gentlemanly after all.

 

I have gently kissed her, her silken skin,

That One Final Perfect Kiss. full post

(156 words, estimated 37 secs reading time)

Seven Line Poem.

The Pretty Things have been left behind

as the thin alluring Duke bids

them farewell, they are more than old enough

now to understand that nothing

lasts forever but that

does not stop the hurt they feel, the pain

they will remember, the beauty they will cherish; such Pretty Things.

 

Dedicated to David Bowie, a hero to all.

Ian D. Hall 2016.

Permanent link to this post (65 words, estimated 16 secs reading time)

Nicola Hardman, Full Beans. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9.5/10

There are some albums that come along, some in the form of debuts, some from bands or solo artists that have been going for years, into which just listening to the songs placed with care and attention is simply not enough, sometimes you have to go all the way in your resolve to try and understand them that in the end like any lover, you just want to kiss it till it gives up all its beautiful secrets.

Nicola Hardman, Full Beans. Album Review. full post

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

John Jenkins And That Sure Thing, Louisiana Is Calling / Sad and Lonely. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Putting on a double A side can be like finding an oasis filled with your tipple of choice whilst lost in the desert and noticing that the spa hotel next to it is handily free to use on the day you get there, coupons supplied. It is in the knowledge that the music is so strong, so concise, that the sheer act of division is impossible and that both tracks stand out fully and with disarming smiles attached to them. If it is good enough for The Beatles to achieve then surely any musician worth their salt must at least attempt to do the same.

John Jenkins And That Sure Thing, Louisiana Is Calling / Sad and Lonely. Single Review. full post

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

Endeavour: Arcadia. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, Anton Lesser, Jake Laskey, Chris Larkin, Genevieve O’ Reilly, Richard Dillane, Joanna Roth, Charles Babalola, Shvorne Marks, Tom York, Caroline O’ Neil, Sara Vickers, Jack Bannon, Gala Gordon, Dakota Blue Richards, Sean Rigby, James Bradshaw, Amelia Clarkson, Max Bennett, Amalia Vitale, Paige Carter, Angela Terrance, Abigail Thaw, Elizabeth Hopper, Helen Lyle.

The dreaming spires of Oxford are seen by many as the vision of the idyllic, the meeting of the pastoral and the edification of those that reside within its natural border, there is something to be said for this near vision of perfection, of the unceasingly bucolic and the trek through the minds of the people who make it their business to steal the vision and try and make it an overpowering Arcadia.

Endeavour: Arcadia. Television Review. full post

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

Too Beautiful To Remain in Sight.

The effects, the mementoes

you come across when

you have the moment in which to tidy

a desk. The half forgotten

trinket, lovingly embraced in the warm light

of day and sold by candlelight to the bidder

hiding in the draw.

I found something of you,

and for a while thought of happy

memories, of the laughter once

shared and the joy it brought us,

then I remembered with sadness

the argument over nothing,

your dogma beating my stubbornness

over the head with a thick

Too Beautiful To Remain in Sight. full post

(153 words, estimated 37 secs reading time)