Tag Archives: Liverpool

John Chatterton, Gig Review. The Casa, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It is a question of illusion, do you listen to music or do you watch it, do you shut your eyes in the crowd and let each note transport you to another place, another realm, or do somehow diminish the sound you are hearing and take in visually as much as possible, letting your eyes be astonished by the speed, the delicate and the insanely beautiful. It is a question of illusion for in John Chatterton, you have to peel back the ears, let the eyes widen in anticipation and just sit there without an animated bone in the body and let life have its way with you, let it entertain and entrance for John Chatterton does things on a guitar that leave you breathless in their simplicity and amazed in their complex belief.

John Chatterton, Gig Review. The Casa, Liverpool. full post

(399 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Eleanor Nelly, Gig Review. The Casa, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

A hall fit for heroes of their craft, or perhaps just a simple way to enjoy the sound of a woman who is surely destined for great things, be it here in the suburbs of her home town in Liverpool or the drama of undiluted cool across the United States where her music pretty much already has no rivals; in Eleanor Nelly there is flourishing youthful hope and she is class personified.

Eleanor Nelly, Gig Review. The Casa, Liverpool. full post

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

Dr. Hook Starring Dennis Locorriere, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It is in the flourish of the performance, the smile upon an artist’s face when they can be seen, witnessed by all, to be having just a good a time as their audience, the equality of art is assured and in the end it doesn’t matter a jot who the performer is, what matters is that the love between crowd and musician is real, complete and without end.

Dr. Hook Starring Dennis Locorriere, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(510 words, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrell, Katherine Waterston, Samantha Morton, Dan Fogler, John Voight, Alison Sodul, Ezra Miller, Ron Perlman, Faith Wood-Blagrove, Jenn Murray, Ronan Raftery, Corey Peterson, Peter Breitmayer, Josh Cowdery, Sam Redford, Zoë Kravitz, Johnny Depp.

It is impossible to ignore the magic, the film that will leave you spellbound and entranced, even without trying too hard it will leave you on the verge of feeling the slack jaw and the misty eyed, a memory of feeling the optimism with any story told when you were a child and seeing that tale run with the grace of imagination installed into it by the writing, the way it was told and the small details of the descriptions added into it by a cool parent.

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

David Essex, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Some people should know better, the rush of excitement though becomes too much and whilst not done in malice, it could see such moments of venues tolerating the rush to the front to see the sex symbols, the musical icons and the true stars of longevity, disappear into the night quicker than a reality television star’s career. No harm done of course as the interloper to David Essex’s stage was dealt with in the same off hand manner that accompanied the likes of Rugby pitch invader Erica Rowe, but it did for a moment detract from what was the power of a man to whom there never has been any doubt, his place in the annals of British music.

David Essex, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(442 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Arrival, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Michael Stuhlbarg, Forest Whitaker, Tzi Ma.

Life boils down to communication, the willingness to talk about even the most inconsequential moments as well as the static, the shouts of indifference and the moans of love, terror and laughter; without being able to communicate in any form, without breaking the barriers that naturally occur between us in language or in our attitudes, we do not deserve to be considered reasonable, adept or functioning members of the planet.

Arrival, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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

A Street Cat Named Bob, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Luke Treadaway, Ruta Gedmintas, Joanna Froggatt, Anthony Head, Beth Goddard, Darren Evans, Caroline Goodall, Ruth Sheen, Nina Wadia, Franc Ashman, Lorraine Ashbourne, Mark Behan, Daniel Fearn, Adam Riches, Nadine Marshall, John Henshaw.

It is a quirk that makes the British film industry such a magnificent beast at times, for every stunning spectacular that crowds the screen with its location, its effortless pandemonium like glee in producing stunt after stunt and the facility to host the filming of the big box office smash, that occasionally comes a film in which typifies the true spirit of film making, one that does not go down the route enjoyed by the likes of the insipid and distasteful, but is instead a story, a piece of living memory that could happen to any of us.

A Street Cat Named Bob, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T, Liverpool. full post

(516 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

Crime And Punishment, Theatre Review. The Casa, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Nathan Benjamin, Bow Towers, Yahya Baggash, P.J. Murray, Michael Cavanagh, Helen Lanceley, Peter Durr, Pam Campbell, Laura Connolly.

There is a stark and simple truth, an element of wholesomeness and direct appeal that Burjesta Theatre bring to the stage; the stripped back but achingly beautiful way of producing their adaptive productions, be it dealing with great weighty historical novels such as War and Peace or the huge wonderful explorations of Greek tragedy theatre, all is given the reverence of the magisterial, the subtle timings of players performing for the enjoyment of the words and the greatness of the play.

Crime And Punishment, Theatre Review. The Casa, Liverpool. full post

(441 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

The Woman In Black, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: David Acton, Matthew Spencer.

A good ghost story never flinches in the face of modern day scepticism, if anything it can grow with stature, it can take on almost a life of its own, of becoming a haunting reminder of the world in between realities that shape and bend our perceptions of what is clear and unsullied and what is blurred, distorted and afraid to step out of the shadows. A good ghost story is one which you can feel the person next to you wanting to jump out of their skin, their creeping flesh tingle with nervousness and anticipation; there are many that have this effect but few capture the pure sense of emotion that is inherent as The Woman In Black.

The Woman In Black, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

The Accountant, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Tambor, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Jean Smart, John Lithgow, Andy Umberger, Jason Davis, Robert C. Treveiler, Mary Kraft, Ron Prather, Susan Williams, Fernado Chien, Alex Collins.

Anybody can make a film it seems where the protagonist has a deep dark past, something in their history that has driven them to the point in which the audience joins them in the carnage, mayhem and resolution to come; anybody and everybody has made a film in which the leading role or the anti-hero has a quirk, a certain eccentricity that makes them stand out but rarely do they do it such a way that the characteristics of autism are made to be so dynamic and fully mapped out, explored in a way that the hero is anything but fulfilled and given absolute purpose.

The Accountant, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T, Liverpool. full post

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