Anna Corcoran. Gig Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Anna Corcoran at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool. September 2014. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

This is the show, arguably the only performance in town that would grab the attention of so many on a night when the news, both local and international, in which could prize the heart away from what used to be called despairingly interesting times. For Anna Corcoran, the sweet deftness of a long lingering caress on a keyboard that responds with a nod of approval and its own commendation, is an hour of time that goes by so fast and yet you feel its effect long after you have got home and played the gig over in your mind as dreams embrace your quivering soul.

Anna Corcoran. Gig Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(475 words, 1 image, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Thom Morecroft, Gig Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Thom Morecroft at the Unity Theatre, September 2014. Photograph By Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Sometimes, occasionally, as rare as a night in which the stars seem to come out and take a bow for the beauty they provide and in which the moon trespasses on the Sun’s heavenly position in the sky, something just catches the attention of a collection of musicians and they give a performance so exciting, so unreal that even the moon knows it’s time to go hiding in the moment of eclipse.

Thom Morecroft, Gig Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(471 words, 1 image, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Jonathan Markwood, Welcome To Planet Earth. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Sometimes you just have to sit back and listen to understand a person’s hopes, dreams, desires and fears. The casual conversation in a pub or coffee shop is fraught with dangers of misplaced cues, of half heard personal confessions and the fighting for the best story of the day, to get the true picture one needs look at the person in the face and listen. Whether it is in the form of spoken word or set to music, listening can get straight to the heart of the matter and perhaps makes for better reasoning.

Jonathan Markwood, Welcome To Planet Earth. Album Review. full post

(477 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Joe Bonamassa, Different Shades Of Blue. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

When Joe Bonamassa makes an entrance, the polite thing to do is to acknowledge the depth of arrival. However who wants polite when arguably the greatest and most prolific Blues guitarist of the last 40 years is in town, the only thing you should really do is applaud wildly and thank which ever deity you entrust your soul to, which ever spectrum of existence is closest to your overall reasoning, that there is a place in the universe for Joe Bonamassa.

Joe Bonamassa, Different Shades Of Blue. Album Review. full post

(425 words, 1 image, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Keith Thompson Band, Catch The Fire. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Music is nothing without enthusiasm, the blaze of ongoing passion and the fervour of belief that what you are producing is something that will nestle at the heart of many a listener and grab their attention and excite them to a point where apathy is thrown to ravenous wolves and the deadly soulless.

Keith Thompson Band, Catch The Fire. Album Review. full post

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

The Avengers: The Lost Episodes Volume 2. Please Don’t Feed The Animals. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Anthony Howell, Julian Wadham, Lucy Briggs-Owen, Martin Hutson, Richard Hope, Alisdair Simpson, Rosanna Miles, Penelope, Rawlins, Jonathan Forbes, Derek Carlyle, Nigel Carrington, Terry Malloy.

There is nothing quite like the intrigue that a good spy story to bring to the collective conscious of a nation. Whether based in the murky world of politics or in industrial espionage, a mole in the machine is one to in which the public salivates over with the kind of relish normally reserved for the most salacious of tabloid journalism. For The Avengers, all of that intrigue is one in which was a daily occurrence, something to be taken seriously and for the listener become an infiltrator of the very best kind.

The Avengers: The Lost Episodes Volume 2. Please Don’t Feed The Animals. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish. full post

(464 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

The Poisoner Of The Well.

The poisoner of the well is never

satisfied until he has

murdered the whole village.

If he could, he would add to the venom that seeps, multiplies,

grows in strength and adds to the imbalance of his impurity,

his lack of moral conviction and toxin fuelled hatred for others well being

by unzipping his fly and with great relish, untangling the so called beast

and piss in the drinking water.

The deep yellow nasty smell that he insists is not there,

the unnatural toxin

that runs through his own veins and makes his flesh burn

The Poisoner Of The Well. full post

(239 words, estimated 57 secs reading time)

Laura Benitez And The Heartache, Heartless Woman. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is almost nothing better than the discreet musical discussions of the feminist argument in which to get your point across of self- sufficiency and self- respect which leads to admiration and a particular type of esteem eluded those that rant and rave at the slightest thing and merest sleight. Not just a feminist argument but a reconciliation between self-value and veneration in other’s eyes that you can walk away from a situation that is doing you harm.

Laura Benitez And The Heartache, Heartless Woman. Album Review. full post

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

New Tricks: London Underground. Television Review. B.B.C.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Tamzin Outhwaite, Dennis Waterman, Denis Lawson, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Anthony Calf, Barnaby Kay, Nicola Stephenson, Sophie Thompson, Benjamin Whitrow, Stephen Boswell, Adele Anderson, Jarred Christmas, Robin Berry.

The River Fleet, a stretch of water so steeped in London’s history, so pivotal to the narration of the capital of England’s chronicle and past account that so many legends, myths and stories have grown up around it, even more so since it was routed underneath the city of London itself. The river became essentially a place where the dregs, the sewage and the hopefully hidden are secreted and forgotten; such is the history of London Underground.

New Tricks: London Underground. Television Review. B.B.C. full post

(482 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Liverpool Sound And Vision: An Interview With Natasia Bullock And Chris Rae Of Stack Theatre.

Natasia Bullock and Chris Rae sit across the table from each other in Café 81 and enjoy what seems to be a brief respite in what has become two very fulfilling and busy lives. For Natasia, recently married and juggling more balls than an expert conjurer in a three ringed circus, her latest production, Rose of June, is being performed at the Unity Theatre on September 23^rd and 24th.

Liverpool Sound And Vision: An Interview With Natasia Bullock And Chris Rae Of Stack Theatre. full post

(2236 words, estimated 8:57 mins reading time)