Tag Archives: Liverpool

Alastair Clark, Comedy Review. 81 Renshaw Street, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

At 81 Renshaw Street, local comedian and University of Liverpool graduate, Alastair Clark brought an intelligent and ambitious hour of anecdotal stand-up on the theme of the difficulties and conflicts caused by opinions.

The show itself was a stand-alone project and a pre-cursor to his future endeavours which include an upcoming hour long Edinburgh Fringe show. His future audiences can look forward to a confident dead-pan delivery of extended deconstructions of unique political and social observations. One highlight was when he took a thread of Youtube user commentators to task for their misguided and hilariously knee-jerk argument on the page of The Doors’ classic song L.A. Woman (“At this point the web site user weighs in with their view- I’m sure we can trust that to be objective.”) He is at his best here when pitting his wearied rationale against the inane vacuous nature of bad lyricism.

Alastair Clark, Comedy Review. 81 Renshaw Street, Liverpool. full post

(284 words, estimated 1:08 mins reading time)

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Crissy Rock, Amanda Harrington, Paul Danan, Laura Gregory, Herbert Howe, Michael Chapman, Paul Quinn, Joe Cawley.

It is a story as old as Liverpool theatres, the young damsel in distress, hated by her vain and immoral step-mother, of witchcraft, of love and a man in various dresses making all laugh before him. Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs is a prime example of the British Pantomime giving all who make their way to the theatre at Christmas a good time, full of songs and cheer and that in the end good will overcome evil. The Epstein Theatre’s festive foray into the world of sparkly tights and vanity mirrors is a delight that kept giving.

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(390 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

The Hobbit, The Desolation Of Smaug. Film Review. FACT Cinema, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly,  Benedict Cumberbatch, James Nesbitt,  Sylvester McCoy,  Lee Pace, Stephen Fry, Luke Evens,  Graham McTavish, William Kircher, Stephen Hunter, Dean O’ Gorman, Aiden Turner, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow, Adam Brown, Mikael Persbrandt, Ryan Gage.

There is no better way to round off an outstanding year in cinema that too return to the Lonely Mountain, through a forest of spiders and a tangle with the web that Elvish Men weave and via one of the finest dialogues captured throughout the whole of the Lord of the Rings trilogies and a journey involving a reluctant thief, a Wizard and a gang of Dwarves than to immerse yourself fully into the world of The Hobbit, The Desolation of Smaug.

The Hobbit, The Desolation Of Smaug. Film Review. FACT Cinema, Liverpool. full post

(611 words, estimated 2:27 mins reading time)

Thom Morecroft And The Full Moon Band, Gig Review. Zanzibar Club, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are many hundreds of reasons for the unshakeable belief that Liverpool’s music in the early part of the 21st Century is something to savour, to relish and enjoy, not to keep closeted away in some dusty attic room and for only a handful of people to nod sagely at but always going back to the moment that music in the U.K. really started.

Thom Morecroft And The Full Moon Band, Gig Review. Zanzibar Club, Liverpool. full post

(557 words, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

Jack Omer, Gig Review. Zanzibar Club, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Staying in is sometimes too tempting an offer. The chance to baton down the hatches, especially in what could be a cruel winter, is not just tempting, it can be so enticing and you would only be human to succumb. However in an area that really makes other places, towns and large urban societies look upon it with envious eyes when it comes to its abundance and well attended music venues, that temptation must be fought and beaten, especially when you come across a support act for a major star that just gets every musical juice flowing and the blood pumping round a body that is desperate to be assured that it’s alive.

Jack Omer, Gig Review. Zanzibar Club, Liverpool. full post

(445 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

Alexandra Jayne, Gig Review. Zanzibar Club, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

As with anything in life there are slow burners and there are instant attention grabbers. The slow burners sparks, splutters and struggles against the prevailing wind but ultimately wins through and burns very bright. Then there are the attention grabbers, the ones that clutches at the heels of the interested viewer, listener, interloper and effects how they look at everything, both are valid and both, if nurtured, will stay long in thoughts of those moved in the musical sensually.

Alexandra Jayne, Gig Review. Zanzibar Club, Liverpool. full post

(456 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Little Red Riding Hood, Theatre Review. The Actors Studio, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Gemma Broderick, Barrie Ryan English, Catherine Rice, Leroy Liburd.

If you go down to the woods today…you might meet a few characters from a classic fairy tale that don’t exactly fit the stereotype and certainly never behaved in such a way before. From a wolf with aspiration issues to a young girl in a red hood that’s far too small and who has changed from the sweet person of memory in a teenager whose concerns are now more to do with the embarrassment that her Karaoke loving mum causes, this re-telling of the story of Little Red Riding Hood at The Actors Studio is guaranteed to be enjoyed by young and old alike.

Little Red Riding Hood, Theatre Review. The Actors Studio, Liverpool. full post

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

Aladdin, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Aretha Ayeh, Marianne Benedict, Carla Freeman, Matthew Ganley, Lindsay Goodhead, Sam Haywood, Adam Keast, Sarah Moss, Griffin Stevens, Francis Tucker.

For Sarah A. Nixon and Mark Chatterton, the writers of the Playhouse Theatre Rock ‘N’ Roll Panto, the subject of Aladdin is one that they have revisited with pride a couple of times but never like this, not with the scale, the almost sense of the wonderful and wonderment all wrapped up in a festive feast that was exactly the production and performance that audiences could have wished for.

Aladdin, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(553 words, estimated 2:13 mins reading time)

Black Star Riders, Gig Review. 02 Academy, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Sometimes as an audience member, it only takes the intro music, the sound of footsteps echoing across the floorboards and the flicker and change of light to realise that not only are you in for a gig of high quality but also that you are in the presence of greatness.

Black Star Riders, Gig Review. 02 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(543 words, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)

The Dead Daisies, Gig Review. 02 Academy, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

In a world that becomes ever more complex and awash with more art being produced than ever before and from all parts of the globe, it is natural to miss something or someone in which when you do finally catch up with them can either be embarrassment or a blessing. In the case of The Dead Daisies, the performance they gave at the 02 Academy in Liverpool was greeted with an air of enthusiasm that befitted the occasion of main support to Black Star Riders and was firmly in the court of a band that should be appreciated.

The Dead Daisies, Gig Review. 02 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(395 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)