Only Child, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 21st 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

No doubt Leaf on Bold Street will host many important night in the years to come, the space above the busy tea drinking den lends itself superbly to the music that has been performed there since it opened. However, the launch of Liverpool musician Alan O’ Hare and string virtuoso, Laura McKinlay’s latest project, the magnificent Only Child and their eponymous debut E.P. will take some beating.

Only Child, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. full post

(394 words, 1 image, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Dave O’Grady, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 21st 2012.

Dave O’Grady has had a busy year already in music terms and by being one of the support acts for Only Child’s E.P. launch at Leaf on Bold Street he managed to inspire and show a new audience what exactly the fuss is about his playing ability and incredible charm.

On stage he weaves a musical composition as if he were Faustus or the Pied Piper of Hamelin playing his music for his loyal followers, it is quite an astonishing feat for example to turn The Beastie Boys hit (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party), possibly one of the most iconic songs of the 1980’s and symbolic of American youth disaffection, into something rather beautiful and laconic.

Dave O’Grady, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. full post

(384 words, 1 image, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

The Yarn, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 20th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Peter Bromilow, Sharon Clarke, Steve Dalgeish, Chris Douglas, Vera Farrell, Carl Fowler, Patricia Palombella Hart, Gaynor La Rocca, Francesco La Rocca, Mike MacKenzie, Rachael Reason, Carmel Skelly, Kirsty Taylor, Edwina Walsh, Jim Welsh.

Rob Brannen’s play The Yarn is as homely as you can ask for but it also hides the darkness, very cleverly, of what happens to a village when the heart is ripped out of it.

The Yarn, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(437 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Dire Straits, Love Over Gold. 30th Anniversary Retrospective.

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 19th 2012.

When someone thinks of Dire Straits with a 21st century perspective, invariably the first thought that gets conjured up is of the period of 1985 when they released the seminal and defining album of their career, Brothers in Arms. Whilst this album holds the affection of the dedicated and casual fans alike, it was the previous album, the 1982 release of Love Over Gold that firmly sets the band on course for the superstardom that was to follow.

Dire Straits, Love Over Gold. 30th Anniversary Retrospective. full post

(984 words, 1 image, estimated 3:56 mins reading time)

The Alchemist, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Photograph by Tristram Kenton

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 19th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

Cast: Ian Bartholomew, Simon Coates, Hasan Dixon, Kevin Harvey, Joshua Higgott, Laurence Kennedy, Ellie Kirk, John McGrellis, Kristian Phillips, Lara Rossi, Nicolas Tennant, Roger Watkin.

The whole world is out for a fast buck, a sure fire way to make money no matter who suffers or is made a fool of. Such was the world during the time of Ben Jonson…and time hasn’t moved on any! Ben Jonson’s play The Alchemist is something different from the plays of the 17th century.

The Alchemist, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(421 words, 1 image, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

Marillion, Sounds That Can’t Be Made. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 17th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

For 30 years Marillion have been proving their new album title wrong, they have surely made every musical note perspire, hum like an angel and make grown men quiver at the knees with ease of their performances. Now the band that some critics have spent their life rubbishing and others extolling the virtues of have released their new album; the exceptional Sounds That Can’t Be Made and like 2004’s Marbles it is an album of genius and sheer quality.

Marillion, Sounds That Can’t Be Made. Album Review. full post

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

Room For Rent, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 16th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ***

Every band has to start somewhere; it is a basic fact of live music and of life and some don’t, for whatever reason, make it in the end.  However, sometimes the hint of promise is there from the start and even if there is a long way to go before the inevitable success; these are moments when the band first performs that makes it all worthwhile.

Room For Rent, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(357 words, 1 image, estimated 1:26 mins reading time)

Brothers ‘N’ Bandits, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 16th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

If you are going to do a cover version of a song in your set as a young and up-coming band, make it a good one, preferably a hit record, and then stomp all over it in size ten shoes and take an eight pound mallet to it to tenderise and finally hold it up to the watching audience and say, “look this is how it should be done.” This is how Brothers ‘N’ Bandits treated the crowd at the o2 Academy to their version of Coldplay’s Yellow and it was magnificent to witness.

Brothers ‘N’ Bandits, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(417 words, 1 image, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

Marillion, Gig Review. Corporation, Sheffield.

Steve Hogarth and Pete Trewavas in Sheffield. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 15th 2012.

It might not go down as the best gig in the world but for the 800 souls who packed themselves into the Corporation Club in Sheffield it was a night where the latest Marillion tour rolled into town. It was one that would have been on many calendars for months on end, carefully crossed off with diligent care until the last few days where the excitement would have got too much and the diligent x became a hurried scrawl.

Marillion, Gig Review. Corporation, Sheffield. full post

(594 words, 1 image, estimated 2:23 mins reading time)