Tag Archives: Liverpool

Jacqui McShee, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

When there are no more worlds in which to conquer, the explorer lays down their map and their compass, and slowly, but surely, disappears into the background, eventually merging with the times and places they have discovered. For many of us that holds true, the vast majority of those around you stop discovering many years before their time, they take out the compass one final time, put the backpack of half ideas formed, and then take root and watch the camp fire flicker with memories that slowly turn to dust and the tear of what was once passed.

Jacqui McShee, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(474 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Caro Emerald, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Caro Emerald at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, October 2018. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

The Queen of European Jazz waves her hand in time to the motion of the scintillating sound that clutches at the air of inspiration and unrequited love, it is a flourish that gives the audience the memory of Time, of understanding that the genre in which Caro Emerald has become the iconic figure and sound, requires at all times, to flow, to be constantly in flux, that the beat that has carried her towards the figure of 100 live performances in the U.K. alone, is a constant wild animal that needs handling with almost regal, and maternal care.

Caro Emerald, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(452 words, 1 image, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Loren Nine, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

A Dutch invasion and surrounded by the scent of intrigue and the possible hint of tulips that hangs in the air, a purveyance, a regal like flourish to the autumn serenade in which Caro Emerald, the undisputed Queen of European Jazz, returns to Liverpool, and alongside her in the carriage of musical expression, something, a passion for expression, a dominating thought of what we might miss as a society if we continue to turn our collective backs on Europe, the artistry of the young, of the timeless, and of the Netherland’s own Loren Nine.

Loren Nine, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(426 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Maggie May: The Musical, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Christina Tedders, Michael Fletcher, Cheryl Ferguson, Tom Connor, Paislie Reid, Katia Sartini, Sam Haywood, Oliver Hamilton, David Heywood, Barbara Hockaday, Matt Ganley.

Liverpool is more than just a city, a coming together of small villages under the umbrella of a larger conurbation, it is the collection of stories that have weaved its way through the psyche of anyone who’s feet have touched the ground in which by the running waters of the Mersey lay, that have been touched by the legends, the myths and the incredible personalities that have made the city of Liverpool the place in which Westminster fears and which secretly it wishes it could be.

Maggie May: The Musical, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(499 words, estimated 2:0 mins reading time)

Blood Runs Deep, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Brandon McCaffery, Alice Merivale, Emma Vaudrey, John Schumacher.

It is the sins of the past that we inherit, perhaps shame gets sprinkled into the D.N.A., a dash of wickedness and a whole load of emotional turmoil, if we are fortunate it skips us, loses its power with each generation, and eventually the gene which causes us to contemplate such vile acts and misdeeds is eradicated.

Blood Runs Deep, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(451 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Fup, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Calvin Dean, David Mynne, Rachel Leonard, Jenny Beare.

Musician: Ben Sutcliffe, Zaid Al-Rikabi.

Falling in love is quite possibly the most beautiful, and most heart-breaking emotion, a human being can live through and endure, for some it happens easily, for others it is a long process which can only come about by first finding themselves, discovering their own sense of true-worth, whichever way it happens, love is, in the words of Liverpool’s Ian McNabb, a wonderful colour.

Fup, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(488 words, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

Persuasion, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Matthew Atkins, Ceri-Lyn Cissone, Siobhan Gerrard, Indigo Griffiths, Jason Ryall, Lucinda Turner.

In a past literary history that is dominated by men, many women stand above them for the sheer depth of human experience, the joy of wit, the penetration to the bones of fear and exploration of the subject; and whilst the names of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Tolstoy stand at the gates of greatness, it is too the scribes of women such as Charlotte Bronte, Agatha Christie and Jane Austen that we should acknowledge perhaps as the greater skilled writers and finer observers of the human condition.

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

(450 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

A Taste Of Honey, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Sharon Byatt, Sophie Coward, Chris Pybus, Jason Lamar Ricketts, James Templeton.

Adapting, or even directing, one of the modern theatre classics has always fallen somewhere between utterly compelling and deserved, and the brave choice which could be fraught with too high an expectation.

A Taste Of Honey, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(448 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

The Musical Box, Gig Review (2018). Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

People quite often think of silence as being damning, of largely falling into the zone of negativity and condemning, the muzzled contempt biting at the tongue and willing to spread the seed of discontent and slander when your back is finally turned. Too often silence is greeted with the look of lack of enthusiasm, and yet silence for a short while is the epitome of awe, the reflected understanding of what can pass for sheer majesty, the shock of beauty, the reverence of joy, silence is esteem.

The Musical Box, Gig Review (2018). Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

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

Dan Owen, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

A headliner’s duty is to make his presence felt, to set the seal on authority, and for Dan Owen the presence is so powerful that when a howling, brooding harmonica punches the audience with immediacy into Willy Dixon’s Little Red Rooster. It is evident to all those upstairs in Leaf that this sand-toned guitar and pounding stomp box have seen their fair share of theatres, blues bars and gig venues across Europe. One thing is for certain: Dan Owen is a truly relentless performer with a roots-shattering vocal that would make Gregg Allman blush.

Dan Owen, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. full post

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