Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Christopher Benjamin, Trevor Baxter, David Collings, Simon Williams, Duncan Wisbey, Lisa Bowerman, Conrad Asquith, Alex Mallinson.
A long laid down plot in which to ensnare our intrepid investigators, the dark arts and foul machinations of vampire Gabriel Sanders and the bigotry of Victorian standards all play a part in the final episode of Jago and Litefoot series two with Andy Lane’s tale The Ruthven Inheritance.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
When a band, revered, unknown or considered with indifference by the greater music buying public starts to release side projects, no matter how good or popular, it always feels as though that there is an underlying issue waiting to come out and hit the bands fans in the face with a soaking wet and mud filled dirty sock, the shock seemingly coming as a surprise to everyone except those who started the thought of solo recordings under the group umbrella in the first place.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
One of the most endearing and potent symbols of England arguably stands to the east of the 21st century’s modern day London and its historic buildings, fashionable residences, iconic sporting grounds and tourist traps. The East-End characterised by the 19th century world vision of smoky-disease and crime ridden streets that even now have the sense of history haunting its streets like some macabre vengeful spectre. The Tower of London, the palace of Kings and Queens, of plots and prisoners from its inception after the Norman invasion is the subject of Norman Jones book Tower: An Epic History of the Tower of London.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
It feels strange to go to a gig in a part of the country not normally known for holding concerts and seeing a group perform with the benefit of a marvellous new album behind them but not hearing any tracks from it. For Gary Maginnis and The Like it was a bold move that worked mainly because the music they played was on par with anything they have put down on Ghost Town Blues and executed with the same deft precision.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Hoylake might not rival its near big city neighbour Liverpool in terms of music history or of touring bands of musicians making their way to soak in the rich ambience and be part of the ever growing chronicles being reported on but in recent weeks it has held a couple of festivals in which musicians and audiences seem to have flocked to in large numbers.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
Debbie Richards took to the stage at The Ship Inn and took the audience that had made their out of the ever increasing heat and quite simply blew them away with an entertaining and lively performance that erred on the enamouring.
It can’t be easy being a jobbing musician and regardless of what people think, for those who fit in their music around a demanding day job, it must be hard work and something to be considered challenging; especially when you have performed with what can only be thought of as great distinction for the fourth time in a week.
As Peter Mitchelson recovers from his interview at the B.B.C. Merseyside studios on Hanover Street, it’s possible to understand how much the Shiny New Theatre Festival means to him. Watching his through the glass giving answers to the radio presenter about the ten day festival at the Lantern Theatre on Blundell Street only makes you admire him more for what he does for all the acts that are taking their performances to the theatre and trusting Peter with a little piece of their souls.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
For a taste of the ethereal, the subtle and gentle tones of a woman in harmony with her music and seeming comfortable with her place at the start of what hopefully is a long and industrious career, listeners could do worse than take in Shannen Bamford’s E.P. Paper Planes in which the young woman gives an absolute corking display of her talent.
The E.P. has become the de rigour of getting a young musician’s art out there without having to confine themselves too tightly to the rigidity and constricting emotional turmoil that recording a full blown album can do when first setting out on what can be at times a long lonely path.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
For the seventh successive year, Ian Prowse stood upon the tight but much loved stage nestled in the heart of the Rodewald Suite at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. Armed with his guitar, a few special guest musicians and the biting wit and emotion that makes him stand out as one of Merseyside’s favourite sons, started work at tearing down the walls, the ceiling in readiness for the refurbishment that is due on the grand old lady soon with a set of music and local acerbic passion which will be hard to match during the year.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Danielle Rude, James Ledsham, Barbara Wallis, Gillian Hardie.
Sharman Macdonald’s When I was a Girl I Used To Scream and Shout is a production that lifts a very large lid on a relationship between mother and daughter that is far from cordial and in which both are searching for something that the other is unable or somehow unwilling to give. The need for validation and acceptance is not forthcoming and over a small break in which the pair head back to the small Scottish seaside village somehow start to show where their relationship went wrong.