Michael Bennett, Liverpool Calling 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
When the day doesn’t quite start in the way you imagined, confusion can momentarily rein havoc with the idea of pre-conception, it tosses aside what you know and offers instead, a dish that delights the palate further and gives off a glow that resonates against the slate gray sky above that threatens to engulf the point of the day’s existence.
I like the shadows,
I find the solitude it offers to be at times
a comfort
from the glare of the sun that burns away
at the fog that envelops and creeps
stealthy into the lungs and grips the throat
with an icy fingerless grip…
I like the shadows
for from there I can whisper anarchy,
I can speak softly the words of revolution
and in my head these words make sense
the hint of paragraphs and passages yet to come…
the shadows hold the key to the stories
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The Russian Bear has long stirred from its slumber and is now making waves into British and European airspace. Not the tidal wave of politics or the heart-stopping aim of ideals clashing for pointless domination but instead the beauty of Heavy Rock. The unifying force that lays in wait for all who take their music one step closer to the edge but who also know how step away from pulling the bass string trigger when the going gets explosive and they don’t come much more explosive than Grenouer and their new album, Unwanted Today.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
If the Blues was dying a death in the latter half of the 20th Century for many of the younger fans, then the resurgence, the resurrection of the genre has all been but complete in the last couple of years as a new breed of musician lends their talent and obvious muscle to the music in what can only be seen as the type of hold that a wrestler would employ to make sure the target of their obsession never let go again.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *
Whilst American graphic novel giants D.C. were working near miracles with their New 52 series, miracles that saw the complete re-grafting and overhaul of titles such as Aquaman and Wonder Woman into near titans of the class, the same unfortunately doesn’t seem to have happened in some of the more obscure, less handily placed titles, including the underwhelming and distinctly average Green Lantern Corps. Not everything can be perfect in life and certainly not for the comic book or Graphic Novel buyer but some titles just don’t readily make themselves an attractive proposition.
The Philadelphian Liberty Bell rang out silently
that the British are coming,
not in order to subdue or to raise terror
and burn down the White House, to smoke
out the tender uprising,
what would be the point when if I had lived
through such times I would have been in Boston
saving the tea but pointing out that coffee
would have been more of a statement
of future intent,
no
the bell rang out for a freedom of my own making
and I allowed my friend, my Philadelphia counsel
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9.5/10
In amongst the solemn, the serious and the ultra cool that the world of music has to offer, there are moments when all you want is the significant and the curious to open their hearts and deliver with open arms and a beaming smile, a set of songs that really let you see life as the witty and wonderfully absurd place that it is, even when Stone Cold Sober.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
When lost in a dusty sandstorm and the sudden appearance of crystal clear waters present themselves, the only honourable and right thing to do is to drink heartily and toast good fortune, for the opportunity to do so again once you have left the oasis might be the longest of times and the throat could boil in the process. Similarly when the sound of musician and the tools of her trade offer the kind of experience where each note is beautifully captured, but not at the expense of a silk like voice that shows that joy and pleasure can be set free to enjoy its natural free slowing state, the only possible thing to do is breathe deeply and listen; for the opportunity to listen to such a refined voice might be a long time coming.
We spin through history
barely scraping the sides with our bitten,
skin wrecked
fingernails, barely clinging on to the future
and never once allowing
ourselves to make more than the simplest
footprint into the course, dusty sand that Time
plays in.
Yet I briefly touched Time once
as we all should, and as St. Agnes stood
motionless
I carefully traced the ripple of the destruction
running down her spine, the tsunami like waves
that Time and the Fat Man with his cigar
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Colin Baker, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Lucy Liemann, Kieran Hodgson, Nicholas Farrell, Nicholas Briggs.
The Cybermen are never more dangerous than when completely and utterly defeated. Time and Time again from the edge of extinction, from the void between realities and the darkness of space they have survived, regrouped and in some cases have even nearly rivalled the Daleks for their natural predisposition to conquer and enslave; for they are a monster that never quite knows when to finally give up.