Tag Archives: Liverpool. (2017).

Midge Ure, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2017).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Midge Ure at the Philharmonic Hall, October 2017. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

It is arguably impossible to think of the 1980s, musically and socially, without the work of Midge Ure eventually coming up in the conversation. The sense of being all things to all music lovers never far from the mind when looking on the decade with either fond nostalgia or the deep seated anger when the pictures of one of the greatest humanitarian disasters unfolded in Africa during 1984.

Midge Ure, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2017). full post

(504 words, 1 image, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

The Christians, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2017).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Garry Christian at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. October 201Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Charm, style, grace on stage and all the attributes of a gentleman; it is perhaps hard to see The Christians in any other light, especially in front of a home town crowd, and with the bonus of celebrating 30 years of history placed before an attentive, passionate, 80’s driven nostalgic audience. However all those years have produced one of the most interesting and self effacing front of stage men and with a voice that feels like silk and hammers home the message with all the power of Thor’s hammer at his disposal; it is no wonder that The Christians remain one of the most respected bands of their time.

The Christians, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2017). full post

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

Graham Gouldman, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. (2017).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Graham Gouldman at the Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. October 2017. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Graham Gouldman always comes across as that kindly uncle who also happens to double up as the most interesting man in the room and finds time to have one of the sharpest song writing minds of the last 50 years. It is a moment of pleasure in your own life when you realise just how exquisite the songs that he has been involved in, across his own solo career, with one of the biggest bands of their time or for others, luminaries such as The Yardbirds or for The Hollies, nothing comes close to that feeling, nothing prepares you for the delights to come.

Graham Gouldman, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. (2017). full post

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

Justin Hayward, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2017).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Justin Hayward at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, September 2017. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

If music doesn’t move you enough to feel the cold truth of tears that run down your face, that if the art doesn’t make your heart feel the kindness, the brutality, the sensation and the despair that makes life such a gift to have in the palm of the hand; then perhaps it could be argued that you just haven’t found it yet, you haven’t found the moment which makes the tears of joy and pain of love mingle and gently swim from your eyes.

Justin Hayward, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2017). full post

(502 words, 1 image, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

Jimmy & The Revolvers, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. (2017).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

It doesn’t have to be big to be clever, it doesn’t require the sense of razzmatazz, the three ringed circus, over blown sense of production or the hype to be the best; all anything needs to be to stick in the mind of the viewer of art, of sport, of life, is to be honest and forgiving, the sense of knowing that the time on stage is the most important feeling and to give it all in the pursuit of natural, beguiling magic.

Jimmy & The Revolvers, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. (2017). full post

(578 words, estimated 2:19 mins reading time)

Cal Ruddy, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. (2017).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

If Science Fiction teaches us anything, it is that Time is but an illusion, a structure devised to keep order, to make sense of the day to day and the minutes that come and go as easily as lightning captured on a camera. Time though is about what is in between, the second hand giving way to the power of the one that speeds by rapidly, not for some the elongated minute or hour, but instead the infinite; for it does not take a day or an hour to fall in love, but the second, fleeting, invisible and beautiful.

Cal Ruddy, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool. (2017). full post

(407 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Blink 182, Gig Review. Echo Arena, Liverpool. (2017).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

https://www.facebook.com/davidmunnphotography, Photograph kindly reproduced from David Munn.

It might have been some years since Blink 182 had ventured to Liverpool, that they had taken The Echo by storm and left an indelible mark, the vibrant tattoo of youth, creative exposure and the insatiable pounding in the heart, for all to wear like a badge of honour for the following weeks as knowing glances and excited conversation took place around town and in the infancy of social media.

Blink 182, Gig Review. Echo Arena, Liverpool. (2017). full post

(501 words, 1 image, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

The Illegal Eagles, Gig Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. (2017).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The Illegal Eagles, Liverpool Empire Theatre, June 2017. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

There are times in life when you cry over a fallen hero, a family member who did something pretty amazing with their life or was just selfless in making sure that yours was not shrouded in pity and the bleak, a conqueror of the stage who you saw perform without mercy and who never knew you were there in shadows being moved by the simple raised eyebrow or the manner of their walk, the musician to whom The Long Road out of Eden was not just lived but taken to heart; it is O.K. to cry over a fallen hero, for it shows the effect they had on shaping your life.

The Illegal Eagles, Gig Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. (2017). full post

(517 words, 1 image, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

Steve Hackett, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2017).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Steve Hackett at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, May 2017. Photograph by Ian D. Hall

The world has changed so much in the last 40 years that barely a whisper of it is now recognisable, fashions have come and gone, a couple of generations of music lovers have been born and slid silently into the edited grooves of downloadable music and fought with all their might to claim the art form as their own, that in their minds they, understandably, are the ones who invented music.

Steve Hackett, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2017). full post

(577 words, 1 image, estimated 2:18 mins reading time)

Roxanne de Bastion, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. (2017).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

People tend to confuse themselves sometimes, the Universe is spectacular like that, believing that to be the best requires the finest of everything, the largest venue perhaps, the abundance of both food and drink on tap, and in this day and age either all for nothing or they are willing to brag about in the Netherspehere of social media that they paid thousands of pounds to a tout outside and that makes the evening perfect.

Roxanne de Bastion, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. (2017). full post

(547 words, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)