This month the Lantern Theatre in Liverpool plays host not to just one comic satirist but two. Alongside Lee Camp from the United States is Nick Revell, a man who Time Out in 2012 gave the ultimate accolade of ‘Master Satirist’ to and who will be joining forces for two nights of comedy titled Transatlantic Fury. This special night of comedy is one to savour as Nick Revell’s pedigree is one that very few can top.
Anna Corcoran, Gig Review. Brink, Liverpool Sound City 2013.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Down the quieter road of Parr Street, Brink had opened its doors as a more sedate setting in which to have live music on during Sound City. The relaxed attitude, the status as a charity run venue all combining to make an evening’s entertainment, especially that utilising the keyboard and the person’s vocal talent, well worth catching. Even with the backdrop of various machines going off every so often, blenders for the smoothies for example, couldn’t detract from those who had waited patiently to see Anna Corcoran perform a selection of songs from her various E.P.s, including the superb The Show which has been getting rave reviews from all quarters of the music world.
All We Are, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool Sound City 2013.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
All We Are have been away from the stages and venues of Liverpool for a while and it is fair to say that the audiences have missed this eclectically brilliant band from their schedule of groups to see live. With Leaf having kicked off their weekend of music in the Sound City 2013 with some superb music, some that might be impossible to replicate again it was that good, there are very few groups that could have matched the intensity of what had gone on before but then there are very few bands like All We Are.
Rachael Wright And The Good Sons, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool Sound City 2013.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
It was always going to take something magical, something just as interesting and musically terrific as the blindingly excellent Natalie McCool, to keep the evening at Leaf in the same rich vein of form that the audience had enjoyed all night. Sound City on its first day had lived up to its billing as being one of the best city festivals the U.K. and in the Leaf venue it had more that surpassed the high expectation thrust upon it. With Natalie McCool having departed the stage after her blistering and sensational set, perhaps it was only fitting that the cool Rachael Wright and The Good Sons took the challenge that lay before them.
Natalie McCool, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool Sound City 2013.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Natalie McCool is quite rightly considered one of the finest singer/songwriters in the north-west, either male or female. Her presence on stage is matched by her demeanour, confidence and stunning ability that once you have seen her play live once, you will go back time and time again to relish the sound you have heard. Whether as a solo intimate acoustic set or, as the growing trend seems to be, infront of an audience during Sound City 2013 that crowded the interior of Leaf to bursting point in the slim chance that they can catch a sight of her perform. One of the most talented in the region, more like one of the most eagerly anticipated acts in the country.
Lolito, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool Sound City 2013.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
To start off Leaf’s involvement in this year’s Sound City with a band that isn’t that well known from across the Channel could be seen as a calculated risk, one that happily and wonderfully had those rare qualities of a surprise that was both exhilarating and fun to explore for the first time. The group, the very enjoyable Lolito, were not fazed by the looks on the faces of those attending the first band of the evening, the amazing bombshell that took people all of five minutes to get over and by the end of the first song, the smiles said it all.
Mind The Gap, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Rachel Worsley, Rik Melling, Errol Smith, Jag Sanghera.
The London Underground is an architectural wonder, an amazing structure that is complex, sometimes overcrowded, dirty and yet a thing of beauty. Poets have written many an ode in their love for it, millions use it every single day and during World War Two it was home to those escaping the nightly bombing raids over England’s capital city. Yet somewhere along the line, the reason to talk to someone on the tube, to make contact with a fellow human being, someone sharing that journey with you was lost. No more reason to find out about someone and their life, now it is papers up, stare straight ahead and do not converse with anyone less it causes trouble.
Queensryche, Operation:Mindcrime. 25th Anniversary Retrospective.
Nobody but an absolute die-hard fan of Queensryche could have dreamed or foreseen how the band from Washington State would come crashing into the rock/metal progressive party in 1988. The group’s first couple of albums, 1984’s debut The Warning and its follow up Rage For Order in 1986 had charted well and the sound that Chris DeGarmo on guitar coupled with the blossoming intensity in which Geoff Tate sang was interesting, erring on the side of a youthful dynamic but didn’t look as though it would ever challenge the accepted order or the new American bands coming through. Then in May 1988 all that changed, the group released perhaps still to this day their single most important work, the dystopian tale of a heroin addict and an attempt at overthrowing the American way of life in a bloody revolution, its policies and its politics that made the times unbearable for many millions. To this day Operation: Mindcrime stands out as a classic, it paved the way for the band to become one of the most highly rated bands of the time with their complexity, incredible guitar playing and unflinching attitude to the social side of American life.
Vicious, Television Review. I.T.V.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, Frances de la Tour, Iwan Rheon, Marcia Warren, Philip Voss.
The new I.T.V. comedy Vicious has two very big surprises attached to it. The first is that it must have been a hell of meeting when they announced that two of the biggest names of British theatre were to be cast in the lead roles and secondly that it was actually enjoyable. I.T.V. may be on top when it comes to excellent drama, the channel really having pulled out all the stops in its determination to be considered to be the natural home of the thriller and dramatic story line but its comedy has not been that well received.
Joe Satriani, Unstoppable Momentum. Album Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Joe Satriani makes a guitar bend and play to his will. Not only does he master the complex, savour the unimaginable and perform as if the instrument is letting go of all the secrets that she has kept guarded for decades but at times he thrills with the playful, that unique combination that makes him one of the legends of rock. His 14th album, Unstoppable Momentum is no different, the complexity, the moments of light hearted mischief are all wrapped up in what amounts to a great album a man who never seems to stand still.