Sons Of Mowgli, Gig Review. St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool.

Sons Of Mowgli, St Luke’s Church, Liverpool. August 2014.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It is often reported as a matter of fact that every living Human on the planet could stand side by side on the Isle of Wight, aside from the logistical nightmare and the social faux pas of finding yourself next to someone who thinks they are a clever so and so and refusing to shake your hand, just exactly how would you entertain everybody whilst the experiment was proved? If you made everybody listen to an I-Pod and made sure that the first songs they heard were by Wirral-band Sons of Mowgli, then at least whilst wondering why you would conduct such an insane experiment, the people stood shoulder to shoulder on the Isle of Wight would have something decent to listen to.

Sons Of Mowgli, Gig Review. St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool. full post

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

The Inbetweeners 2, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Simon Bird, James Buckley, Joe Thomas, Blake Harrison, Tamla Kari, Belinda Stewart-Wilson, Freddie Stroma, Emily Berrington, Celeste Cotton, David Schaal, Adrian Palmer, Dominique Maber, Larissa Jones, Cameron Caulfield, George Hewer, James Kearney, Kai Pantano, Alex MacQueen, Martin Trenaman, Robin Weaver, Greg Davies.

It is impossible to ignore something forever and when you find yourself laughing at some of the absolute filfth that runs through the latest big screen adventure for the four lads who make up The Inbetweeners, you either have to check that you didn’t leave a vital part of your brain in a field surrounded by cattle licking it and getting a human high from it or ,making a mental check list to watch some of the episodes again to make sure that you just weren’t being an idiot for not enjoying it in the first place.

The Inbetweeners 2, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(524 words, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)

Jimmy And The Revolvers, Gig Review. St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

To sing on a stage, to perform as a duo when normally your live set is a tight and almost unbreakable foursome, to play as though your voice is smiling, is something that just has to be seen and witnessed. For Jimmy and The Revolvers that quality of being able to pull off all three requirements to being to being considered having greatness thrust upon them is one that comes with a humble shrug of the shoulders and a unsaid apology as if to say, “Well why wouldn’t we?”

Jimmy And The Revolvers, Gig Review. St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool. full post

(463 words, 1 image, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

Gary A. Gardner, Gig Review. St. Luke’s Church. Liverpool.

Gary A. Gardner at St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool. August 2014.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The last year must seem like a dream to Gary A. Gardener. A man who found his way back into performing, who has played gig after gig in the local area and beyond and who has been roundly supported and appreciated fully. Why this might be a surprise one can only surmise however when you can write songs with clarity and overwhelming sensitivity, the surprise must be taken out to the wood shed, spanked and told that it is not welcome for Mr. Gardener really does fit the bill in terms of very good musicians who can hold an audience’s attention.

Gary A. Gardner, Gig Review. St. Luke’s Church. Liverpool. full post

(352 words, 1 image, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

John Chatterton, Gig Review. St Luke’s Church, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

No matter how many times you watch John Chatterton perform in or around Liverpool you constantly feel bowled over by the genuine love that works its way between performer and audience in a constant yoyo effect that never seems capable of stopping.

The set is one that has an un-dilutable power attached to it, a facility to charm despite what many people might think about certain songs, their expressions and thoughts are soon changed as Mr. Chatterton’s guitar takes the crowd past their pre-conceptions and delights and beguiles in broad equal measure.

John Chatterton, Gig Review. St Luke’s Church, Liverpool. full post

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

Billy Kelly, Gig Review. St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool.

Billy Kelly at St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool. August 2014.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There aren’t too many towns and cities in the U.K. that are as close physically, geographically and tangibly as Bootle and Liverpool. Many are the people that don’t know much about the town on the Mersey, just over three miles north from the Capital of music culture and the struggles it faces on a daily basis. There are those that even think that Bootle is just another off-shoot, an estate, within the borders of Liverpool. Yet despite a certain lack of understanding that resides in the minds of many, Bootle shares a common thread with its younger but much bigger sister, its ability to turn out musicians who adhere to the way of social conscious and who aren’t afraid to say so. One such musician opened up the substantial afternoon of acoustic music at St Luke’s Church, Bootle’s own Billy Kelly.

Billy Kelly, Gig Review. St. Luke’s Church, Liverpool. full post

(488 words, 1 image, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

Machinae Supremacy, Phantom Shadow. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The invasion from the Scandinavia continues and long may it do so, for the realm of Metal needs acts and music from the lands of Norway, Denmark, Finland and music in its entirety from all the group of nations that encompass the thoughts and reasoning of the people there. In amongst the land of plenty you can and should also add Sweden of course and Swedish band Machinae Supremacy to the multitude, for failing to do so is surely an act of Metal heresy.

Machinae Supremacy, Phantom Shadow. Album Review. full post

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

Our World War, Television Review. B.B.C.

Cast: Theo Barkham-Biggs, Callum Callaghan, Justin Michael Deuster, Brian Ferguson, Jefferson Hall, Daniel Kendrick, Stephen Leask, Dominic Thorburn, Frankie Wilson, Sion Young.

The trouble with being taught history at school is along the way it loses so many young minds to the way of the bored or disinterested. For many it is the sheer weight of facts to remember, perhaps the subject matter doesn’t grab the mind or imagination, for some they just cannot see the relevance to the our society today. That may be argued as understandable when looking at the lives of The Tudors or the Georgian society unless of course you are the type of person who is absorbed by all history, social, economic and personal. When it comes to the events that took the world on a course of destruction a 100 years ago, the relevance is palpable, you can almost hear the beating, thumping heart of your great-grandparents and their breathe clinging to the air around you as history is still so close and so real to many.

Our World War, Television Review. B.B.C. full post

(632 words, estimated 2:32 mins reading time)

God’s Pocket, Film Review. Picturehouse @F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christina Hendricks, Eddie Marsan, John Turturro, Richard Jenkins, Caleb Landry Jones, Jack O’ Connell, Bill Buell, Rebecca King, David Apicella, Bridget Barkan, Michael Drayer, Prudence Wright Holmes, Eddie McGee, Molly Price, Domenick Lombardozzi, Glenn Fleshler, Joseph Reiver, Arthur French, Dave Powers, Morgan Auld, Jonathan Gordon, Matthew Lawler, Joyce Van Patten, Danny Mastrogiorgio, Sophia Takal

All it would have taken is the velvet tones of Richard Burton to have been heard at the start of Philip Seymour’s penultimate film and what the audience would have realised was how encouragingly in the vein of Dylan Thomas screenwriter Alex Metcalf and John Slattery had made Peter Dexter’s novel God’s Pocket.

God’s Pocket, Film Review. Picturehouse @F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(572 words, estimated 2:17 mins reading time)

Kobra and The Lotus, High Priestess. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There is nothing quite like being disclosed the name of a new band to your mental collection and finding out just how good they sound and wondering just how come you haven’t heard of them before. The world is a huge place, you can never hear everything, the simple act of breathing quietly in a darkened room often gets in the way of that, however when the name conveyed of Kobra and the Lotus and their new album High Priestess appears out in soft spoken but hurriedly excited tones, all you can do is listen and then exclaim unashamedly loud that they join fellow Canadian’s No Sinner as being two of the great bands of the era from that large expansive country.

Kobra and The Lotus, High Priestess. Album Review. full post

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