Natalie McCool, Mello Mello. Gig Review.

Natalie McCool performing at Mello Mello. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Mello Mello may have been threatened with senseless closure earlier in the summer, thankfully this den of good music in the heart of the city centre, tucked neatly in amongst the bawdy and forlorn is still operating and still putting on nights of interesting and well crafted music. It is a good job really as those who watched Widnes musician Natalie McCool play her set with oodles of style may have wondered where else they could have caught this essential music maker if not for Mello Mello.

Natalie McCool, Mello Mello. Gig Review. full post

(378 words, 1 image, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

The Popdogs, Cool Cats For Pop Dogs. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

When pressed to name significant figures to have come out of Lincoln, the greater population of the U.K. may struggle before coming up with the fact that one of the nation’s favourite and experienced actors in the form of John Hurt was schooled there and for those more knowledgeable will be aware that Sir Isaac Newton was born in the same county but as for its music it has remained dangerously unexplored.

The Popdogs, Cool Cats For Pop Dogs. Album Review. full post

(368 words, 1 image, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

Lavender Girls, Cabaret Night Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The cabaret night is not one that gets much of a mention in today’s modern world. It can be, unfairly labelled as a relic to a by-gone age by some hard-hearted critics but sometimes the one size fits all approach to an evening’s entertainment is just as good a night out as one dominated by just comedy or an evening of music.

Lavender Girls, Cabaret Night Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(326 words, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

Sandi Thom, Gig Review. Eric’s Liverpool.

Sandi Thom, Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Sandi Thom started the summer going for great British blues musicianship with her extraordinary album Flesh and Blood and where she led, others have followed and produced stunning works of art. So much so that to keep ahead of the likes of Beverley McClennan and Joanne Shaw Taylor, her live set has had to be something exceptional and at Eric’s in Liverpool she delivered.

Sandi Thom, Gig Review. Eric’s Liverpool. full post

(410 words, 1 image, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

The Mono LPs, Gig Review. Eric’s, Liverpool.

Ste Reid of The Mono LPs at Eric’s. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

To hear the Mono LPs on stage at Eric’s on Mathew Street creating the type of penetrating and powerful sound as they supported Sandi Thom for the night, it might have blown you away and a lot of pre-conceived ideas about how an acoustic set works. Not only was it bouncy, brash and passionate but at one point it did look as though Ste Reid and Vicky Mutch, along with her cello were going like the clappers on stage.

The Mono LPs, Gig Review. Eric’s, Liverpool. full post

(443 words, 1 image, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, The Acheron Pulse. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish 166.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Colin Baker, James Wilby, Kirsty Besterman, Joseph Kloska, Jane Slavin, Chris Porter, John Banks, Chook Sibtain, Carol Noakes.

The Acheron Pulse is the second of the latest three part mini-series from Big Finish and it seems that the Doctor is fashionably late but as ever when there is trouble to be found he is there when you most need him most and even though he just doesn’t exactly get there with no severe consequences having had taken place.

Doctor Who, The Acheron Pulse. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish 166. full post

(544 words, 1 image, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)

Jessica’s Ghost, Losing Track Of Time. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

No matter what, 2012 could be the year that Jessica’s Ghost became a major force in the all-encompassing world of Liverpool music.

There have been some utterly absorbing albums to come from the region this year and rightly so as the city enjoys yet another renaissance in what people from London to New York to Sydney are expecting to hear from the place where the Mersey Beat first came of age, the eighties revival took hold and now the 21st century musical barometer is suggesting and predicting.

Jessica’s Ghost, Losing Track Of Time. Album Review. full post

(380 words, 1 image, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

Still Life, Theatre Review. University Of Liverpool.

Mark Raynor, Iona Campbell, Georgina Rose in Noel Coward’s Stll Life. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast:  Iona Campbell, Jonny Campbell, Jack Conway, Mary Cooper, Barney Eliot, Reuben Green, Mark Raynor, Georgina Rose, Elena Spiegl, Katherine Wright.

With the strains of Noel Coward’s I Went to a Marvellous Party greeting the audience at the University of Liverpool’s intimate theatre space, the stage was set for a renaissance of the great actor and playwrights work performed by L.U.D.S, one of the two amateur dramatic societies that give young budding actors their first real taste of life in front of an audience. Their chosen piece to start their 2012-13 season off was the sublime affair of several hearts, Still Life.

Still Life, Theatre Review. University Of Liverpool. full post

(439 words, 1 image, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Steptoe And Son, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Photograph by Steve Tanner. Dean Nolan, Mike Shepherd as Steptoe and Son.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Mike Shepherd, Dean Nolan, Kirsty Woodward.

Albert and Harold Steptoe, national comedy legends that were bought to B.B.C. television by the incredible writing of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, two men bound to each other through blood, despair, apathy and a small measure of distant attachment. No one could have predicted how much the two men would change the television viewing habits of the nation as they settled down each week to watch the Steptoe and Son.

Steptoe And Son, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Simon McBride, Crossing the Line. Album Review.

This year has seen some incredible blues albums being released and the vast majority of them by women. This is not only great news to see the likes of Beverly McClellan, Beth Hart, Bonnie Raitt and Joanne Shaw Taylor take on the men at their own game but it also sees the new men of Blues raise their standards.

In a similar fashion the punk explosion of the 1970’s that musically threatened the old established figures , what is coming through is exciting and new and whilst led by Joe Bonamassa and some of the older guard like Robert Cray are still the Gods that every one aspires to become. This is no less true in the case of the exceptional Belfast Blues man Simon McBride.

Simon McBride, Crossing the Line. Album Review. full post

(370 words, 1 image, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)