Tag Archives: Liverpool

Dreaming Of Kate, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. (2015)

Maaike Brejman performing as Dreaming Of Kate at the Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The elusiveness of Kate Bush, arguably one of the great female recording acts that Britain has produced in the last 50 years, as a stage performer is always keenly felt by those whose love of her special concoction of dance and magical lyrics. The decades that have passed, the sense of falling in love to someone whose music has defined much of how the public certain segments of time, all missed, all grieved over and whilst quite rightly Ms. Bush is lauded for her music, the sense of loss is always there.

Dreaming Of Kate, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. (2015) full post

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

Pharaoh Cross The Mersey, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Michael Fletcher, Lindzi Germain, Hayley Hampson, Danny O’ Brien, Andrew Schofield, Michael Starke, Leah Whiteside, Amera Bjorkhaug, Ashlyn Baker, Natasha Riley.

Band: Elliot Chapman, Jack Hymers, Emily Linden, Alex Smith.

Boris and Daisy, a Russian submarine crew member and a student from Liverpool, having found love in a cold climate and an odd pair of talking bears with a passion for ballet in Scouse of The Antarctic continue their romance in the hot desert of Egypt and in amongst the camels, the fezs and flies and in Fred Lawless’ latest comedy smash, Pharaoh Cross The Mersey, the spirit of the Liver Bird lives on in wonderful Merseyside fashion.

Pharaoh Cross The Mersey, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Rapunzel: Hairway To Heaven, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Marianne Benedict, Adam Bowler, Tom Connor, Nicola Hawkins, Sam Heywood, Stephanie Hockley, Martina Isibor, Adam Keast, Greg Last, Francis Tucker.

There’s a lady who’s sure that all that glitters is comedy gold and the music, and laughter that comes from out of the Everyman at the start of the festive season is one true reason to lock the door, head to the bright lights of Hope Street and revel in the latest in a long line of Christmas extravaganzas written by Sarah A. Nixon and Mark Chatterton, the superb Rapunzel: Hairway To Heaven.

Rapunzel: Hairway To Heaven, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(376 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

The Crucible, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Marni Stanley, Anthony Devine, Abby Bush, Amy Dalton, Samantha Westwell, Sara Chadwick, Rebecca Barrett, Olivia Grace, Nadine Cullen, Harvey Fitzpatrick, Georgia Rooney, John O’Grady, Thomas Dalton, Kaylee-Ann Meredith, Peter Shock, Mark Harper, Georgia Wills, Christopher Hird, John Dixon, John McGee, Sophie Powell, Ashley Male, Amy Allen, Liam-Powell-Berry.

The power of a play rests in the hands of those who contribute to it long after the author’s death. The command of its direction, the will to continue to shape modern thought offers energy in the very best of productions and arguably continues to place dynamism into the words of plays, including perhaps one of the very finest of the 20^th Century, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.

The Crucible, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(562 words, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)

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

Liverpool Sound and Vision rating * * * *

Cast: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, Jake Lacy, Sarah Paulson, John Magaro, Cory Michael Smith, Kevin Crowley, Nik Pajic, Carrie Brownstein, Trent Rowland.

Such was the shape of the world in the 1950s that it was easier to mention in homes up and down the American political highway the issues surrounding Communism than it was to talk openly about the love shared between two women, that the so-called threat of Communism could be seen as a driving force of debate and yet to be a lesbian was something that was swept under so many carpets that it enjoyed an abundance of innuendo and implication.

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

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

Shrek: The Musical, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Dean Chisnall, Bronte Barbe, Gerard Carey, Idris Kargbo.

Here’s a statement: Shrek: The Musical is every bit as colourful, huge and – above all – funny as anything ever staged at the Liverpool Empire Theatre, with sets to die for, costumes that glitter brighter than the Christmas lights on Castle Street, choreography to make Len Goodman weep tears of joy and a cast that is quite simply sensational.

Shrek: The Musical, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(478 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

Cara Dillon, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Perhaps the comparison should be noted between Cara Dillon and the subject of one of her songs which ended up as both a hit for Disney but also the bane of her young daughter’s life. Not for the fairy-like appeal but in the delicate nature of her voice that has the consistency of refreshing spring water running playfully down the hills of her native Northern Ireland and the image of thousand Cabbage White Butterflies let loose on the wings of a delicate breeze.

Cara Dillon, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(362 words, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

Joe Francis, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The young Cornishman on stage at the Epstein Theatre defies the image many may have of the county as being in league of wanting separation from the U.K., an image wrongly held by those in London and in the grasping power halls of the Westminster Village as being aloof from the country, insular, narrow minded and the prefect representation of the wildness of the untamed south, a wildness they see unflatteringly in the North of the line that divides their own minds. It is an image that Joe Francis happily shatters as he muses and sings of a greater inclusive nature that all artists hope for.

Joe Francis, Gig Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Boo Hewerdine, Gig Review. Music Room, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Boo Hewerdine at the Music Room, Liverpool, November 2016. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The music of Boo Hewerdine may draw you in, the elegance of easy virtue and taste adding spice to the occasion but it is also his dry humour, his self- depreciation and anecdotes of a profession well lived that catches the attention of his live sets.

To many in the Philharmonic Hall’s Music Room, Boo Hewerdine is a colossus of British music and as he went through the near countless songs at his and the gathered audience’s disposal, there was no arguing with that simple and honest fact of artistic life.

Boo Hewerdine, Gig Review. Music Room, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

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

Dave O’ Grady, Gig Review. Music Room, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Dave O' Grady at the Muisc Room in Liverpool. November 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Dave O’ Grady at the Music Room in Liverpool. November 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The ambience, the environment of a tangible quiet serenity is only ever enhanced when a musician of deep meaning words adds his worth to the vibe on offer. Like a master painter of seascapes finding the one flaw in his work that would have gone unnoticed by all and sundry who marvelled infront of it, the addition of a single piece of spectral light peering ominously from behind a passing cloud, not only adds texture and meaning, it adds a vision perhaps unseen.

Dave O’ Grady, Gig Review. Music Room, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

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