Tag Archives: Liverpool

Paul Straws, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Paul Straws might not be a name that the vast majority of music listeners in Liverpool and the surrounding area are aware of just yet but with his impish grin and delectable guitar playing, it won’t be too long before the music lovers of the city catch him somewhere.

Coming on stage at Leaf can be pretty daunting. It’s not a large area for sure but its close knit proximity to the audience means that there is nowhere to hide for someone who is anyway self-conscious or worse self-absorbed.

Paul Straws, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. full post

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

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Theatre Review. The Lantern Theatre, Liverpool.

Fine Time Fontayne and Neil Gore at The Lantern Theatre. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 29th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Neil Gore, Fine Time Fontayne.

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell should be considered one of the most important books of the last 100 years, no matter what your background is. First published in 1914, it shocked then as it still has the power to do so now. The adaptations for the stage have been equally well received and especially in Liverpool where in 2010 Howard Brenton’s adaptation and starring Finbar Lynch, brought the house down.

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Theatre Review. The Lantern Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(414 words, 1 image, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Nik Kershaw, Gig Review. O2 Academy, Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 22nd 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

A night of two halves joined by a very talented individual thread, that is the key behind Nik Kershaw’s fantastic night at the Liverpool o2 Academy show,.  It was a night where both performer and audience reminisced in the depths of music and came up with a set list that defied time and made the most of some of the excellent new songs from his latest album.

Nik Kershaw, Gig Review. O2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

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

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)

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)

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)

Dreamboats And Petticoats, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Cast: Graeme Henderson, Francesca Loran, Adam Howard, Mathew Quinn, Chris Coxen, Christopher Wheeler, Tristan Pate, David Ribi, Josh Little, Samantha Dorrance, Katie Birtill, Anna Campkin, Ben James-Ellis, Christopher Fry, James Nitti, Robbie Durham, Emily O’ Keefe.

The past is a foreign country, as the saying goes. However the early sixties is still fresh in our minds as it bought the fashions, the music and the second wave generations of teenagers ready to find their own way, their own style and stamp their time on the following decades and those that would follow them.

Dreamboats And Petticoats, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(388 words, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)