Tag Archives: Liverpool

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9.5/10

Cast: Lewis Bray, Garry Cooper, Emma Curtis, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Cynthia Erivo, Michael Hawkins, Charlotte Hope, Dean Nolan, Andrew Schofield, Alan Stocks, Tom Vary, Matt Whitchurch, Ozzie Yue.

One year on from the Everyman Theatre opening its bright, brand new interior to the people of Liverpool once more, throwing the wrapping of the impressive exterior and the doors being opened wide with a huge Merseyside smile, William Shakespeare returns to liven up the world and let the magic in the Everyman stage run over.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(556 words, estimated 2:13 mins reading time)

Joan Armatrading, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Joan Armatrading at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. March 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

When a musician of the legendary status decides to announce the last days of major touring, the polite thing to do is to go and watch a marvel say their goodbyes somewhere, anywhere, on tour. For someone of the quality and assurance of Joan Armatrading, the decent and respectable thing to do is to turn up and be quiet apart from the large spontaneous applause at the end of each song. To generally bask in an absolute legend and trail blazer who came through the ranks and became a much admired figure, even with the still dreadful race relations that haunted 70s Britain.

Joan Armatrading, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(559 words, 1 image, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

Liz Owen, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is good and bad news if you like or love music and you live with a gnat’s armpit of Liverpool. The bad news is, you will never hear everything that comes out of Merseyside, The Wirral or Cheshire. The fantastic news is, you will never hear everything that comes out of those same areas, for no matter how many nights a week you go out, no matter how pubs, venues or doorways you visit, there will always be someone new of interest to come along and shake your cosy perceptions up and who will add new colour to the proceedings.

Liz Owen, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

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

Alexandra Jayne, Gig Review. Liverpool Acoustic Festival 2015. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Alexandra Jayne at the Unity Theatre in March 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The celestial heavens opened above the U.K. and the thought of the majesty and awe of space was offered to all below, the dance between Sun and the Moon a peek at what made our ancestors shudder with fascination and perhaps fear but in the skies above a 21^st Century Earth. As eclipses go, certainly over Liverpool, it wasn’t the most auspicious of moments, but that did not stop one star shining brighter and with greater meaning attached at this year’s Liverpool Acoustic Festival at the Unity Theatre.

Alexandra Jayne, Gig Review. Liverpool Acoustic Festival 2015. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(518 words, 1 image, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

Natalie McCool, Gig Review. Liverpool Acoustic Festival 2015, Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Natalie McCool at the Unity Theatre. March 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

From supporting Go West at the Floral Pavilion to the unchartered territory of Russia, from producing one of the singles of the year so far to being thought of as an icon in music, it has been an upward trajectory that that has seen Natalie McCool take on an even greater, and well deserved importance, in the annals of North West music. In the spirit of such things, to have Natalie McCool perform at this year’s Liverpool Acoustic Festival is one to take great thanks in.

Natalie McCool, Gig Review. Liverpool Acoustic Festival 2015, Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(467 words, 1 image, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

Shannen Bamford, Gig Review. Liverpool Acoustic Festival 2015. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Shannen Bamford, Unity Theatre, Liverpool. 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

One of the great finds on the Liverpool acoustic circuit in recent years is arguably Shannen Bamford. A voice that resonates like an angel tempting the music lover with a shot of adrenaline and comforting words when all around is filled with sorrow and pockets of despair.

Even though Ms. Bamford has other commitments that keep her disappointingly away from the venues on a full time basis, both for her and for the legion of fans that she has built up in Liverpool, when she comes on stage the realisation of just what she brings to the acoustic table is enough to stir the music passion once more.

Shannen Bamford, Gig Review. Liverpool Acoustic Festival 2015. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

X+Y, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Asa Butterfield, Rafe Spall, Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan, Jo Yang, Martin McCann, Jake Davies, Alex Lawther, Alexa Davies, Orion Lee, Edward Baker Close, Percelle Ascott.

To be able to watch a film that deals with something completely different, the soul not only sings, it positively chirps with delight.

X+Y, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(623 words, estimated 2:30 mins reading time)

The Selecter, Gig Review. East Village Arts Centre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9.5/10

For three years on the spin The Selecter have made their way to Liverpool and given such dynamic performances that they are impossible to ignore, especially on a night when so much was going on with the confines of the city’s bustling streets.

The Selecter are one of the seminal bands of their genre and perhaps arguably one of the most iconic and much loved, mainly due to their front woman, Pauline Black, being such a positive role model, on all who ever meet her.

The Selecter, Gig Review. East Village Arts Centre, Liverpool. full post

(658 words, estimated 2:38 mins reading time)

The Tuts, Gig Review. East Village Arts Centre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Nobody ever wants to go to a gig and be bored, what would be the point? You may as well stay at home, put on the television and be entertained by the mindless pulp and trash that passes for entertainment at times. For in that world of the beige and insipid lays the regular heartbeat, the dull sound of the grandfather clock, polished within an inch of its life and signaling with wooden glee your every ever closing steps your date with the inevitable, beige being your watchword.

The Tuts, Gig Review. East Village Arts Centre, Liverpool. full post

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

The Three Lions, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Dugald Bruce-Lockhart, Antonia Kinlay, Ravi Aujula, Séan Browne, Tom Davey, Lewis Collier.

The performance on the field of play is what sells newspapers and lights up the hope in a nation. It is though the commotion, the sometimes arrogant fuss and nail chewing excitement that goes on behind the scenes that captures the imagination and provides the truth behind the success and failure, the unbelievable high and the very desperate low which makes drama so fulfilling.

The Three Lions, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(538 words, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)