Late Night Oil, Gig Review. District, Liverpool. Hope Fest 2015.

Katy McGrath of Late Night Oil at District for Hope Fest 2015. Photograph by Lis Garrett. Photograph used with kind permission by Lis Garrett.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

When there are no more Yokos left, it could set a dangerous situation spiralling out of control, for when the ethereal Muse departs the world and the shadow of disappointing average song is allowed to fester, the world will surely crumble into a artistic dust…whilst bands like Late Night Oil are around though, showing the way by whatever means of solid illumination is possible, the Muse will always have something to consider worth enjoying and to be seen dancing, swaying and rocking out to in the full glare of the un-dampened stage light.

Late Night Oil, Gig Review. District, Liverpool. Hope Fest 2015. full post

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

Dan Wilson, Gig Review. District, Liverpool. Hope Fest 2015.

Simon James on Saxaphone for Dan Wilson at District 2015.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The message of Hope is plastered without impunity everywhere you look and the thought of the displaced and the homeless being made to suffer such indignity in the 21^st Century is one that should cause society to feel absolute shame. Hope though is one thing that can never be taken away; in no matter what form hope should present itself, then hope survives.

As part of this year’s Hope Fest line up, a new hope for the ever growing pool of talent that Liverpool shares with the world is felt in the music supplied by Dan Wilson.

Dan Wilson, Gig Review. District, Liverpool. Hope Fest 2015. full post

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

Edgar Jones, Gig Review. District, Liverpool. Hope Fest 2015.

Edgar Jones at District. Hope Fest 2015. Photograph by Lis Garrett. Picture used with kind permission by Lis Garrett.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Back in March of this year the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool was treated to the re-emergence of one of its most favourite musicians in the form of Edgar Jones on the stage as he opened the evening for the musical colossus that is Dr. John, it was a return to which many in the home grown audience could, if propriety had been thrown out of the window, have wept with solemn joy at the sight. Many it was to be seen, were certainly on the verge of letting such stifling actions go and no one would have blamed them for being so honest and in touch with their feelings over such a talented man and his much missed voice.

Edgar Jones, Gig Review. District, Liverpool. Hope Fest 2015. full post

(416 words, 1 image, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

For A Love Of Echo…

All I hear in far distant voices

is the complaint of Echo

as she strives to have Narcissus look

upon her tender loins and sigh

for one such as her, one such as her.

Echo, child of damnation

of her own accord, never one of

punished sound and fading rememberance

as the words splits and catches,

slowly disintegrating, integrating, grating, rating

and ever slowly decaying, just saying nothing

but I love you.

Echo, child of spirit,

I implore, do not play with the boy

For A Love Of Echo… full post

(167 words, estimated 40 secs reading time)

Doctor Who: The Fate of Krelos/Return To Telos. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, John Leeson, Frazer Hines, Michael Cochrane, Veronica Roberts, Bernard Holley, Nicholas Briggs.

The name Telos is enough to have long term fans of Doctor Who reaching for the nearest bottle of glee and asking their friends and neighbours to pour it all over them without hesitation or complaint. Telos, the stuff of legends, it’s up there with Mondas and St. Paul’s Cathedral in terms of iconic homes for the Cybermen.

Revisiting Telos though is problematic for The Doctor, for a start getting in the way of a previous incarnation is always going to stir up agitation.

Doctor Who: The Fate of Krelos/Return To Telos. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish. full post

(506 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

Chantel McGregor, Lose Control. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Control is everything when it comes to be true to your core beliefs, your own artistic barometer, without it manipulation of the senses and a kind of imposed domination is the dangerous step into the void.

Sometimes though losing control is just exquisite, it is the building block of something quite extraordinary and whether it is through just going with the dynamic or the groove, control in all its forms and influences cannot, and should not, be easily dismissed. It is the good judgment and significant thought to understand that restraint does not have to be rigid, flat and uninspired, it just needs to Lose Control at all the right times.

Chantel McGregor, Lose Control. Album Review. full post

(397 words, 1 image, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

A-ha, Cast In Steel. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Long before the Norwegian and Scandinavian invasion became a sublime permanent fixture on the ears of British music lovers, long before the doors of Paul McCartney’s L.I.P.A. became the hotbed of Norse influence and the beauty of a language enthused with British rhythms, a-ha were the go to band of the mid 1980s and early 1990s in which to get a sense of the sensitivity and craftsmanship that seemed so remote and yet only a short distance away.

A-ha, Cast In Steel. Album Review. full post

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

Happily Ever After, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound & Vision Rating: * * * *

Cast: Paul Curley, Ady Thompson, Eve Shotton, Bruno Mendes.

Happily Ever After is inspired by Linda De Haan and Stern Nijland book King & King which was published in 2002, which tells the story of two young princes who fall in love and marry. It opened up the debate of how young do children have to be to be able to understand gay relationships. The book has made its mark and has since been published in eight languages. It has gone on to receive great success, as well as hitting opposition from parents, teachers and social conservatives.

Happily Ever After, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(338 words, estimated 1:21 mins reading time)

Roses Are Dead…

Do not ask me,

for I wouldn’t give it up for roses.

Do not ask it of me

for I would not put my life

in your hands and I would not

let the lingering taste of over friendly perfume

seep into my pores and cloud my judgement,

do not ask it of me.

Do not ask it of me,

Do not sway my mind with temptation

for I am but a weak man,

like all men, once ensnared

by the thought of the price of Heaven

Roses Are Dead… full post

(217 words, estimated 52 secs reading time)

Aquaman: Volume Five. Sea Of Storms. Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

It is so often the way that a new writer at the helm of what has become a genuine contender in the realm of graphic novel fiction can somehow be seen as a setback in the character’s development or in the way that it is perceived to be heading.

Aquaman: Volume Five. Sea Of Storms. Graphic Novel Review. full post

(470 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)