Limf

Sigma, The Wombats and more lead the LIMF lineup for 2016

by

The sensational Liverpool International Music Festival (LIMF) returns for its fourth outing celebrating the city's musical pedigree, diversity and heritage on a global scale. Taking place from Thursday 21st – Sunday 24th July 2016, LIMF explores the theme of 'ReDefinition' with five commissioned projects and performances that are and have redefined music and popular culture. These include a curated live show by BBC 6 Music's Gilles Peterson called 'From The Soul'; a celebration of Liverpool's counter-culture over the last 40 years with '76-16: From Eric's To Evol'; and 'House Nation' where renowned Liverpool-based DJ and Producer Yousef will explore what defines house music in four international cities. 

LIMF Summer Jam returns with a three-day FREE outdoor music celebration featuring its best line-up to date including Sigma, The Wombats, Lianne La Havas, Kwabs, Netsky, Ms Dynamite, Maverick Sabre, a very special Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Friday evening performance and much more. The recent national award winning LIMF Academy stage will return to showcase tomorrow's stars, which alongside the 'its Liverpool' stage which showcases past, present and future homegrown talents, provides another reason why Liverpool has received the prestigious UNESCO City Of Music status in 2016. For the latest LIMF programme and to buy tickets for the LIMF Presents series please visit the LIMF website with more to be announced soon.

Liverpool is recognised as a UNESCO City of Music in 2016, shining a spotlight on the city's pioneering approach to its ever-evolving music culture. Combining this with the city's rich music heritage, Liverpool International Music Festival has become the current voice of this global music city with an experimental but accessible programme for all.

LIMF 2016 is made up of LIMF Presents, LIMF Academy and Europe's largest free music event, LIMF Summer Jam. Last year it attracted around 160,000 music lovers, cementing Liverpool's reputation as a must-visit destination, with this year’s earlier July date ensuring it will be the perfect start to the summer celebrations.

LIMF SUMMER JAM: Friday 22nd, Saturday 23rd, Sunday 24th July – Sefton Park – FREE
LIMF Summer Jam has fast become the leading family festival of its kind, completely free to enjoy and welcoming to all. Taking place at Sefton Park it will mark the start of the summer and the culmination of a spectacular series of events as part of Liverpool International Music Festival. Friday's opening night will be see the spectacular Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra perform a set which includes 'Music City: Reimagined', which will showcase many of the defining songs that came from the city of Liverpool and impacted the world. 

Chart topping dance duo Sigma, responsible for hits such as 'Nobody To Love' and 'Changing' are confirmed to headline on Saturday evening, with Liverpool's very own quirk-pop legends The Wombatsheadlining the following day. Singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas will bring her own inimitable mellow groove to the proceedings whilst Belgian drum 'n' bass pioneer Netsky will have the Sefton Park revellers dancing to his contagious beats. Bringing an urban vibe to the LIMF Summer Jam bill will be trailblazersKwabs, Ms Dynamite and Maverick Sabre, with RnB up and comer Shakka and BBC 1Xtra's 'Hot For 2016' nominee Samm Henshaw also lined up to play. Local heroes John Power and Dave McCabe and the Ramifications will be performing, as well as Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band and China Crisis. 

LIMF Summer Jam’s monumental music offering will be available for all to see for free, making it one of Europe’s biggest free outdoor events and an unmissable date in the diary for all.

LIMF Presents…'ReDefintion' 
The LIMF Presents series is a showcase of artists, music and projects that have and are redefining music and culture. The commissions projects and performances will taking place during LIMF 2016 and include:

From the Soul (LIVE) – Thursday 21st July – 1900 – 22.00 – Music Room – Royal Philharmonic Hall – £26.40 (incl. booking fee)
Curated by 6 Music’s Gilles Peterson, LIMF explores the redefining sounds of British soul music over the past 30 years. The event will feature a special house band collaborating with some of the most important names in British Soul. The live event will be followed by an exclusive DJ led after party hosted and featuring sets by Gilles Peterson and Thris Tian (Boiler Room / NTS), which will bring 3 decades of Soul to the dance floor. Line up to be announced soon.

From the Soul (After Party) – Thursday 21st July – 2200 – 0100 – Buyers Club – Early Bird £13.20 (incl. booking fee), £19.80 thereafter.
Line up to be announced soon.
 
House Nation in association with Circus  – Friday 22nd July – 1700 – 0000 – Sefton Park Palm House – £26.40 (inc. booking fee)
House music is truly a global phenomenon. In key cities around the world various dynamic producers are trailblazing a more progressive sound – redefining what you consider House Music to be. LIMF travels to three international music cities with Liverpool-based DJ and Producer Yousef as he immerses himself in those different scenes – returning home to make four records that reflect the sounds of those different cities and his hometown of Liverpool. The process will be documented, with both the music and shorts being released. The project will culminate in a special live show, in association with CIRCUS, at LIMF 2016. Line up to be announced soon.

House Nation (After Party) – Friday 22nd July – 0100 – 0400 – 24 Kitchen Street – Early Bird £13.20 (incl. booking fee), £19.80 thereafter
Line up to be announced soon.

76-16: From Eric's To Evol (a celebration of Liverpool music's counter-culture) – Saturday 23rd July – 1930 – 2300 – Liverpool Guild of Students – Early Bird till 1st March £19.80 (inc. booking fee), £26.40 thereafter
For the last 40 years the punk-indie attitude has been prevalent in Liverpool and has led to the creation of some of the most influential cultural movements the city has ever seen. These are movements that have connected not just with the people of Liverpool but with the world. LIMF showcases those key venues, artists and scenes. This is the inter-generational story of Liverpool’s underground music scene and how it has redefined itself in terms of music, fashion and popular culture over 40 years! Line up to be announced soon.

Music City: Reimagined – Friday 22nd July – 18.30 – 21.30 – Sefton Park – FREE
In 2015 LIMF focused on the influencing sounds that entered this City, this year LIMF showcases the defining songs that came from our city and impacted the world. The evening will see Liverpool’s no1 playlist performed by the spectacular Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Roots, Rock, Reggae – Saturday 23rd August – 15.00 – 15.30 – Sefton Park – FREE
It has been over 50 years since Millie Small reached number 1 in the UK with "My Boy Lollipop", and introduced Reggae to the British mainstream. Subsequently that first generation of settlers and their offspring carved out their own brand of reggae here in the UK and redefined the global image of the genre as a whole. From the birth of Lovers Rock, to the driving sound of roots reggae and the interpretation of vocal reggae, the British reggae sound added a considerable amount to the music scene. This project would see award winning BBC Radio DJ Seani B (himself a Grammy nominated Reggae producer) curate a collaboration between a host of British reggae artists. Line up to be announced soon.

Steve Levine’s Assembly Point Sessions @ St Georges Hall Review

by

St. Georges Hall has been transformed for tonight's event, the statues and pillars are hidden away with black curtains, the beautiful tiled floor is covered in artificial grass, and with the white picket fences in front of the stage, it has the feel of a rural village fete.  Material is draped above the audience and glows with the magenta coloured lights. The wonderful original architecture and decor of the ceilings and stain glass just peak through.

Steve Levine was commissioned by Liverpool International Music Festival (LIMF) to produce this collaborative event, hand picking performers, including artists he's produced, Boy George and Natalie McCool, along with Mark King, Bernard Butler, Tim Burgess, Hollie Cook and Mary Epworth. Each would perform a mini set backed by the others, with the night being finished off with a headline set from Boy George.

First up was Level 42's Mark King who opted to go with a cover of the Cream song 'Sunshine of your Love' and didn't leave the mixed audience disappointed with the pensioners rocking along with skinny jeaned teens.

Natalie McCool, Liverpool Music Awards' female artist of the year and possibly the hardest working live performer on the local circuit was next, performing 'Thin Air', an obvious choice for tonight as Bernard Butler supplied additional guitar on the track from her brilliant debut album. Bernard and Natalie were then left alone on stage to perform a track he produced and co-wrote for Duffy, 'Syrup & Honey' was one of the highlights of the night and showed just what a great vocalist Natalie McCool is.

If the audience were happy with what they had seen so far then they were about to be blown away with a full on onslaught of stomping Rock from Mary Epworth performing another of the nights highlights 'Black Doe' with the addition of almost every performer along with a horn section.

Hollie Cook certainly has a good musical pedigree, her Mother being Culture Club vocalist Jeni Cook, her Father Paul Cook, was the drummer in that little punk band The Sex Pistols and her Godfather is none other than tonight's headliner. Following a stint doing backing vocals for the reformed Slits in the late 2000's, Cook went on to release her tropical pop sounding debut in 2011 and released her second album using PledgeMusic this year. Her performance tonight is a little change from the rest of the acts, infusing her unique blend of reggae and pop to great effect on tracks such as 'Postman'.

By the time Tim Burgess hit the stage the audience had already been treated to what felt like a real celebration of music both old and new. With his blonde bowl cut almost covering his eyes his 4 song set list was stripped down, acoustic and laid back which was slightly disappointing at this stage of the night, although it was well executed and probably more suited to this one off event. 'The Only One I Know' being the stand out track.

Following a short interval it was Boy George's time to step into the limelight for his headline slot. If the set list was picked to please an indifferent festival crowd then he certainly achieved it. Mixing old solo tracks with a few Culture Club bangers, along with his newest solo tracks such as 'My Star' and even classic rock covers in the form of 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door' and T.Rex's 'Bang a Gong' a song he recently collaborated on with The Black Lips. He never left out the obvious, if you could pick one of your favourite Boy George songs then it probably made an appearance, whether it be 'Hare Krishna', 'Karma Chameleon' or 'Everything I Own'. Boy George kept the crowd thoroughly entertained throughout, ending by inviting the rest of the performers on stage for a final bow.

A little clunky at times which is expected at this type of event with little rehearsal time. It felt a little like a one off live T.V. special. Directed by Steve Levine, and presented by Radio 6 DJ Chris Hawkins, the event had everything, interviews between sets and also the recording of a track throughout the night with performers (and the audience acting as a choir) adding overdubs to a new version of Gerry Marsden's 'Ferry Across The Mersey' in Steve Levine's stage side studio.  As far as collaborative one off, one night only live music spectaculars go, this was a massive success.

 


Photos by Stuart Moulding

 

MTV Brand New Review

by

MTV kicks off the Liverpool International Music Festival with a line-up of fresh UK vocal talent.

I'll be honest…I didn't quite know what to expect going into this gig.
The cynic in me though "Oh, here we go…MTV parades a bunch of marketable girls all 
billed as 'the next big thing'". The cynic in me was quickly silenced. 

As soon as we got under way, one thing was abundantly clear…..these girls can really do it. 
And they can do it well.

Becky Hill was first up with a strong performance of old and new material. 
There always seems to be this sort of stigma attached to the whole 
'reality TV contestant goes legit' thing, or maybe it's just me, but again, this was dispelled
from the get go. Becky proved to both me and a warehouse full of 300+ Liverpudlians that she's the real deal.

Next up was Jess Glynne.. and yes, even I've heard of Jess Glynne. This girl just seems to be everywhere at the minute.                                                                                                             Giving off a much less animated presence than Becky, Jess was fine letting her voice 
do the talking. In her short career, she seems to have already built up enough hits in her back catalogue to keep almost any crowd screaming …and this crowd was no exception.                                             Backed up by a slick band (and I don't say that often) and some pretty energetic backing singers, this whole group put in a stylish performance leaving the crowd hungry for much, much more.

So there's me. Stood in the trendy setting of the Camp and Furnace with my cameras round my neck, pleasantly surprised by what I'd seen so far.
Then it was time for the final act..and trust me when I say that this crowd was already pretty bloody happy with what they'd got for their £3 ticket purchase, but when Ella Eyre was announced,                 they kicked it up a notch…and by 'kick it up a notch'…I mean they went mental.                             Figuratively, of course.

On to the stage runs this electric lioness, dressed like a sexy x-men character and absolutely rips the crowd to shreds. Whipping around in a blur of hair and Spandex, Ella worked this crowd like she's been doing it since she was born. 
Honestly, I just shot Kendal Calling and even there I didn't see stage presence this good.
Of course, she dropped some crowd-pleaser's like "Deeper" "Love me like you" and "If I go" (which sent the already manic crowd through the roof) – and the ones we didn't
know, she taught us the words to.                                                                                                   Even through a few technical difficulties (let's face it, sh*t happens sometimes) she managed to keep the crowd right in the palm of her hand.

It's kind of ridiculous to think that this girl is only 20.  
What's even more ridiculous is to think how good she'll be in another few years.
Probably the worlds next International super awesome ultra mega star. Or y'know, words to that effect.

All in all, this was a stellar line-up of absolute vocal powerhouses who definitely brought their A-game for the MTV cameras..and whilst they were busy doing that, they also restored my faith in the future of UK vocal talent. Thanks ladies.

An excellent way to kick off the Liverpool International Music Festival.                      

Well played, MTV. Well played…