Tag Archives: Liverpool

Wendy James: Gig Review. Rough Trade Records, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The show must always go on, the dedication to the cause despite all that life may casually throw at you must continue unabashed and with sincerity be held up for all to witness; for you never know who you may inspire with just a simple acknowledgement of your time in the spotlight despite all that has happened, and how your life is one of creative cool.

Drop The Dead Donkey: The Reawakening. Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Susannah Doyle, Robert Duncan, Ingrid Lacey, Neil Pearson, Jeff Rawle, Stephen Tompkinson, Victoria Wicks, Julia Hills, Kerana Jagpal, Claire Louise Amias, Adam Morris, Riya Rajeev.

They argue that you cannot recreate magic, that nothing is truly timeless, and in comedy that is especially true, the lighting that was captured does not stay in the bottle because attitudes to what makes people laugh alters so drastically that it the pressure inside the glass can do nothing but break, and all that remains is a puff, a glimmer of the electrifying pulse that once was seeping out into a world whose view has shifted and the approach of farce is pushed aside in favour of a new regime designed to no make people guffaw and snort wildly but be downcast and dull.

Haunted Scouse. Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Helen Carter, Paul Duckworth, Lynn Francis, Julie Glover, Michael Starke.

We deal with grief in our own way, but we must allow humour to part of the therapy in taking us from a place of heartbreak to one where we can look back at the times before the moment and take solace in the joy what came before, the small things that make a smile and a laugh the most beautiful response in the world.

Toyah And Robert’s Sunday Lunch: Live. Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Toyah has never lost her sense of fun and style, and her husband, the legendary Robert Fripp, exudes such an air of gentlemanly grace that to be in their presence can often feel measurably overwhelming.

For to watch two of Britain’s most experienced performers on stage can lead to the listener being comforted and dominated in the same breath; and when they are together on the back of their hugely successful Sunday Lunch show online that sartorial elegance on stage for a Liverpool crowd is one that is to be acknowledged as being performed by a king and queen of Prog and Punk.

Clannad, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Award-winning band Clannad said farewell to Liverpool, and Liverpool said a reluctant sad farewell to Clannad.  

It’s been 50 years since this exceptional Irish band from Donegal bounced onto the music scene with their eclectic mix of traditional Celtic music and new age ethereal vibes. 

Legendary, influential and culturally important, the band was formed in 1970 by siblings Moya, Ciaran and Pol Brennan and their uncles Noel and Padraig Duggan. Unfortunately, Padraig passed away in 2016 and the band gave him a “shout out” at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall last night to the delight of a packed audience. For a short time, sister Enya had been part of the line-up but now ploughs her own path.  

An Inspector Calls, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Liam Brennan, Christine Kavanagh, Jeffrey Harmer, Alasdair Buchan, Chloe Orrock, Ryan Saunders, Emma Cater, Michael Ross, Portia Booroff, Elissa Churchill, Jonathan Davenport, Nathanial Cagliarini, Ella-Grace Hanson, Daniel Dean.

Time never changes, it just alters the angle in which you stare at it, until finally you realise that what has already gone, has returned, and normally with even greater ferocity and fire than before.

White Little Lies, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Celebration, we arguably don’t do it enough, or if we do then we do it for the wrong reasons, we find the excuse to congratulate almost anything and we often neglect the purposeful and the driven to our own cost.

It is in the resolute and focused aim that White Little Lies took to the stage at Studio 2, not even the spectre of November’s horrendous weather, the grey skies leaving its sternly fixed gaze over the Liverpool skyline could deter Daniel Saleh and Vanessa Murray from delivering a set full of mastery, poise and the squeal of delight from the audience.

Two Black Sheep, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

In the right hands the combination of guitar and violin is one of extreme beauty, they complement each other, they add a mournful dynamic to joy, they imagine upbeat righteousness in the midst of passion and yet they also bring a sound of hope to a place where life is in need of comfort; it matters not if the sound is one of the ethereal or inscribed with a regimental jig, what matters is that the heart and soul of a song is joined together by the players and their instruments.

Camilla Sky, Gig Review. Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is an unrivalled elegance that is on show when Camilla Sky steps on the stage and allows herself to feel the moment, the twinkle in her eye that suggests mischievous beauty and the roving thoughts of melancholy greatness are idols in which to bow down a head and be thankful for; even in the swirling mists of laying her life down for lyrical inspection, there is a style and refinement that shines through with absolute purpose.

Road, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Hannah Aspinall, Ruby Bains, Emily Barker, Rebekah Brown, Sami Bueid, Charlotte Clarke, Jordan Connerty, Charlotte Dawson, Charlie Diable, John Dixon, Joseph Edwards, Jade Fazakerley, Grace Fordham-Bibby, Amber Higgins, Jake Holmes, Poppy Hughes, Chloe Hughes, Morgan Hughes, Connor Kelly, Luke Logan, Jenny Lowe, Molly Madigan, Grace Emily Maud, Niamh McCarthy, Callum McCourt, Jonathan McGuirk, Lewis McVey, Michael Meechan, Jack Molloy, Michael Moran, Aiden Morgan, Charlie Noponen, Yasmin Ormesher-Lunt, Jamie Pye, Phil Rayner, Matthew Roberts, Harry Sargent, Kaila Sharples, Sakura Singh-Corke, Marth Small, Natalie Vaughan, Matthew Woodhouse.