 |
Nerve 19...OUT
NOW!!......
Get your copy from , Bold Street, Liverpool, L1 or from
|
|
|
|
- 14/5/2012
Phil Newton gives his take on the report giving the go-ahead for
Fracking. Arising like an earth druid sacrament
from the relatively rusticated seclusion in the North Staffordshire
countryside comes the earth fracturing news that fracking is now
ok despite contrary goings on.
|
- 15/5/2012
Shakespearean Sonnet by Minnie Stacey
We’re definite, refined, and filthy rich
from servants digging ditches in their health, |
- 11/5/2012
Liverpool promoters/think-tank/recording/rehearsal studio curators
Milk:Presents talk to about their upcoming event at Binary Cell Studios and
their future plans. Founded by four friends in 2011, initially describing
themselves as a ‘label/events -recording/design’ company,
Milk’s remit has steadily increased to take on even more creative
ventures. |
Free Gigs in Liverpool
this weekend!
- The 3rd annual event from the Rathole Radio
crew. A great night of live music featuring: The Corinthians, P'Chenga,
20lb Sounds & Thom Morecroft.
Friday, 11th May from 8pm at Leaf, 65-67 Bold Street, L1.
- A free outdoor extravaganza of exciting music
which knows no boundaries, featuring BULBS, LOKA, Carlo Bowry and
GORP.
Sunday 13th May from 1pm - 5pm at Chavasse Park, Liverpool ONE. |
- 2/5/2012
Column by Sandra Gibson which celebrates the persistence of wildlife
in urban conditions.
I bought a pot of basil as I often do and I
carried it especially carefully round town this uneasy day of threat
and squall. I kept smelling the spicy citrus scent, and imagined
it growing in pots outside Greek houses in limitless sunshine.
|
WOW has a nautical theme for this year's festival. As they describe
on their website 'Representing the Crew, Captain Benjamin Zephaniah;
Owen Jones, author of the best selling Chavs, will be looking at
the Demonisation of the Working Class; sci-fi writer, Mike Carey,
will be manning the look-out and searching for flash-fiction stars;
Ahdaf Soueif sails in from Egypt, bringing news of the Arab Spring;
Pauline Black wil be seeking the soundtrack for the ship's radio;
and all manner of piracy and illicit cargos will make for a voyage
of discovery like no other.
For details about all the events taking place until 31 May, go to
or telephone 0151 703 0020.
|
- 1/5/2012
Last week saw the little girl giant marionette’s visit to
Liverpool, her walk through the city and reunion with her long lost
uncle, also a giant marionette. It was a venture as culturally vacuous
as it was profitable. The absence of any cultural substance I believe
was intentional by the way, to defy exclusory elements – the
cultural version of extreme positive discrimination. |
- 27/4/2012
Windmill Wholefoods is a Workers Co-operative, a genuinely democratic
and sustainable organisation run without a hierarchy by Paul, Martin,
Emma, Adam and Rik. It began as Liverpool’s Green Co-operative
in 1991 and is a humble set-up that shares knowledge and experience
with other Co-operatives. |
Join Liverpool Against the Cuts on a direct-action ‘Workfare
Walk of Shame’ through Liverpool City Centre, stopping off
at companies that use unpaid workers from Workfare schemes.
The Liverpool Against the Cuts ‘Workfare Walk of Shame will
take place on Workers’ Memorial Day’, Sat 28th April.
|
- 20/4/2012
Column by Sandra Gibson which celebrates the persistence of wildlife
in urban conditions.
No traffic sound; no-one shouting into a mobile;
no clattering saucepans; no-one calling their cat; no-one playing
Whitney Houston. Dusk: the pewter clouds from the north darkening
the evening into this moment of silence. |
- 17/4/2012
With excellent new EP ‘My Singularities’ just released,
Lucky Beaches mainman Luke Muscatelli talks to Richard Lewis about
the new record, film-making and Alistair Crowley. The notion of
bands decamping to rural climes to ‘get our heads together
in the country man’, an activity hugely popular in the late
sixties-early seventies has been bested by Lucky Beaches mainman
Luke Muscatelli. |
Seminar and film screening of 'Rebellion in Tottenham 2011' with
speaker Roger Ball, co-founder of the Bristol Radical History Group.
The August 'riots' were portrayed by the media and politicians as
the actions of 'greedy feral youth' or 'gangs' within a 'criminal
underclass'. This event will provide an analysis of the 'riots'
of August, considering what (actually) happened, who was involved
and how they did it.
Wednesday 2nd May 2012 from, 6:30 pm - 8:30pm, at 126 Mount Pleasant
(opposite Catholic Cathedral). For further information please contact
p.h.adams@liv.ac.uk or
|
- 4/4/2012
Column by Sandra Gibson which celebrates the persistence of wildlife
in urban conditions.
A crimson tulip growing through the stark white
of newly fallen snow: an arresting image from the TV reports of
blizzards in Derbyshire. Weather experts say that we are more likely
to have snow at Easter than at Christmas, though no one wrote a
song dreaming of it. |
- 26/3/2012
New column by Sandra Gibson which celebrates the persistence of
wildlife in urban conditions.
Also known as Rose Bay Willow Herb, the prolific
wild flower called Fireweed cheers the hearts of those whose cityscape
has become a bomb site or whose buildings have been cleared by machine.
|
With the fantastic female harmony group Sisters Unlimited at St
Bride's Church, Percy Street/Catherine Street, Liverpool 8 on Saturday
14th April 2012.
Afternoon workshops from 2pm – 3.30pm and a concert in the
evening with Sisters Unlimited, four female vocalists who have had
tremendous performance and recording careers.
|
This is the third annual selection of newly-developed writing, directing,
technical and acting talent; the Write Now One Act Play Festival.
This year featues TEN productions covering such diverse subjects
as identity, creation, cyber searches, football and Alice in Wonderland.
Fri 30th March to Sat 7th April at The Actors’ Studio, 36
Seel St.
|
- 26/3/2012
The inaugural Getintothis Award has been described as ‘Liverpool’s
answer to the Mercury Prize’. With the shortlist about to
be announced, Nerve met up with music journalist Peter Guy, originator
of the Getintothis blog to discuss what inspired the prize. |
"Spellbinding, funny and almost unbearably
moving... it is both a work of art and an incisive piece of cultural
history, a poem and a polemic, a performance and a balm and a benediction"
- Variety.
Sun 18th March, 4pm (Mother's Day Special!) at The Lantern Theatre,
57 Blundell St, L1.
Sat 24th March, 7pm at Ullet Rd Unitarian Church, 57 Ullet Rd, L17.
Tickets £7/£5 concessions, from
or from
|
Liverpool Socialist Singers present David Rovics Singing
the Revolution and Liverpool Socialist Singers and The Peacemakers.
16th March 2012 at 7.30pm at St Brides Church, Catharine St., L8
7LT
Tickets £7 (£5 concs) from News From Nowhere, Bold St.
& on the door.
|
100th Meridian Theatre present The Circus on Lime Street, written
by Peter Harrison. Cameo cinema murders revealing
a tragic miscarriage of justice.
26th - 28th April at 6pm and 8pm at St. George's Hall Court Room.
£10/£7 conc.
|
- 9/3/2012
A presence on the Liverpool music scene for the past quarter of
a century, Andy Delamere, drummer with The Wizards of Twiddly, Dead
Belgian and Emily and The Faves talks to Nerve. Dead Belgian are
playing The Kazimier on March 9th 2012. |
- 24/2/2012
Liverpool Uncut have called a day of action for Saturday 3rd March
2012 to boycott Workfare as anger grows at this mandatory work programme.
Here Minnie Stacey gives us a Sonnet about unemployed people working
for free. While a long term unemployed worker tells their story,
and Carol Laidlaw says what she is doing about workfare. |
Nerve is planning to make changes to our website. We want to hear
what you value the most on the present website and what you would
like to see as part of these changes. We will also be running workshops
to train people in how they can upload articles, images and video.
|
- 20/2/2012
Liverpool-Norwegian band Eye Emma Jedi, having made some serious
waves over in Norway, turn their attention to Blighty with a long-awaited
UK debut at a free show at The Kazimier next month. Nerve chatted
to guitarist Joe Wills. |
- 20/2/2012
When a friend of mine told me about a cafe called The Brink that
had recently opened to help recovering alcoholics in Liverpool's
city centre, I had a clear image in my mind. A street corner cafe
cloaked in drab blue peeling paint with grimy windows shrouded in
vinyl lace, furnished with an array of wobbly old tables inhabited
by a selection of disheartened unfortunates. |
Peace activist Maya Evans travelled to Afghanistan over Christmas
with Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org). Maya may be
the first British peace activist to visit Afghanistan since the
2001 invasion. She met with human rights activists, refugees, and
people affected by NATO night raids and drone strikes. Come and
hear her first hand account of the situation in Afghanistan - Free
entry, all welcome!
The talk is on Friday 24 February 2012 at 7pm in Next To Nowhere
Social Centre, 96 Bold Street, Liverpool (entrance next door to
bookshop). |
- 13/2/20012
Poem by Minnie Stacey, January 2012. The context of The
Revolution of Revulsion is the extract from a Vivienne Westwood
interview. The poem is about occupation in general, with undercurrents
of the plight of Palestinians in 'occupied territory', and 'gazes'
and 'plaza' with their subtext of Gaza. |
- 7/2/2012
Plans to develop the Royal under Private Finance Initiative (PFI)
were condemned by protestors on Friday 27th January. The demonstration
was originally called by the Labour Party, but they backed out when
it became apparent many people would be there demonstrating against
the Labour Party’s lack of any real policy to stop the new
Health and Social Care Bill. |
- 30/1/2012
"I was at Occupy Liverpool's camp just after New Year when
I met Colin Robinson the publisher of this book. He moved from West
Kirby 25 years ago to live in New York City and told me how he and
others had the original idea for this book before the camp was set
up. On the first day Occupy Wall Street had started he picked up
a piece of brown cardboard in Zuccotti Park and wrote on it 'Occupying
Wall Street'. The result is the cover of this book." |
- 25/1/2012
Gathering Jack tells the tale of a fictional serial killer, known
as Gathering Jack, who is stalking the streets of Liverpool in 2012.
Whilst it is not specifically based on any one historical killer,
it tips its hat to the ‘gentlemanly Victorian’ killer,
bringing the myth up to date. |
- 25/1/2012
Young Everyman Playhouse (YEP) launched this week as the Everyman
and Playhouse threw open its doors to young people for an initiative
that will nurture the writers and actors, the technicians, the audiences
and the cultural leaders of the future. |
- 19/1/2012
The Play "The Old Dark House" is adapted from the 1932
American horror film directed by James Whale and starring Boris
Karloff (both of Frankenstein fame) and follows a newly wed couple
who are forced to seek shelter in "The Old Dark House"
while honeymooning in the middle of the Welsh Countryside. |
- 13/1/2012
A glorious morning greeted hundreds of people as they turned out
to support the sacked 13 Liverpool Mutual Homes workers at the site
just recently vacated by Occupy Liverpool opposite the Liverpool
Mutual Homes Building. Men with thirty years experience have been
thrown on the scrap heap as LMH outsourced their work to various
contractors for a cheaper work force. |
- 11/1/2011
The security guards used excessive force to remove UK Uncut protesters
on Church Street and they also continued to attack protesters outside
on public property. What excuse could they possibly have for these
actions? Some of the more disgusting acts of violence that day were
a security guard putting a cigarette out on somebody's face and
punching a pregnant woman. |
- 11/1/2011
Saturday 7th January was a big action organised by UK Uncut Liverpool
and supported by Occupy Liverpool and Solfed. The target was decided
to be HSBC bank. This bank was not directly bailed out by the government
which I actually believe to be a strength of actions against this
bank and Barclay's. The public are already very aware about the
bailouts and are quite rightly very angry about it but this has
also served to cover up the other atrocities carried out by the
bankers. |
- 5/1/2012
Synth-glam-punk-rock practitioners par excellence talk to Nerve
about the economics of making records, sourcing inexpensive musical
equipment and the Glam Rock Premiership. Two-thirds of Mashemon,
Rocky and Ronny (they claim these are their real names but we’re
unconvinced) sit in The Albert Pub, Lark Lane discussing the latest
activity in their self-created Glam Rock Premiership. |
- 15/12/2011
On Monday night (12th December), Liverpool City Council held an
extraordinary public meeting to vote through £30 million of
swingeing budget cuts. Despite the meeting being poorly advertised
- no doubt to prevent dissenting citizens from attending - it was
reasonably well attended. From 4pm a diverse mix of members of the
public, including anti-cuts activists, workers, trade unionists
and the unemployed gathered outside the town hall in the cold and
rain, waving placards and chanting. |
- 8/12/2011
Wednesday 30th November, 2011 saw the biggest one day strike in
the UK for a decade. Unions had called members out to support their
demands that the government rethink plans to reform public sector
pensions. It is claimed that 2 million people went on strike throughout
the UK. |
- 30/11/2011
After spending time in London helping to start Occupy London and
then visiting both Occupy camps there regularly it was good to see
Occupy Liverpool finally set up camp at the base of the Wellington
Monument by the Walker Art Gallery and St. George's Hall. I spoke
to a few campers and visitors about why they were there and what
they thought about the Occupy Movement. |
- 29/11/2011
The BBC are considering cuts that will disproportionately and drastically
affect local radio, leading to stations sharing programmes regionally
for part of their schedule, and sharing an "all-England"(?!)
local radio show in the evenings. Radio Merseyside would lose staff
and programmes, including Folkscene and other music shows, and community
programmes. |
In the fourth seminar in the CCSE Critical Research Seminar Series
Joe Sim provides a critical analysis of the urban disturbances that
occurred in August 2011.
Thursday 1st December 2011 from 5pm – 7pm at 68 Hope Street,
L1 9BZ. Attendance is free.
|
Lecture by Professor Sam Davies at The Refectory,
St Nicholas’s Church, Chapel Street, Liverpool on Wednesday
23rd November at 2pm.
The causes, progress and key events of the strike have been analysed
in some detail in previous literature. In this lecture Professor
Davies will shift the attention to the ordinary rank-and-file citizens
of Liverpool who were involved in the strike, not only the strikers
who participated directly, but also those who were caught up in
the accompanying civil disturbances.
|
Featuring Billy Bragg, Akala, Sound of Rum
on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th November from 8pm at The Picket
Liverpool.
Since taking over the running of the Left Field at Glastonbury Festival
in 2010, Billy Bragg has made an effort to showcase young artists
who are mixing pop and politics. The Left Field in Motion Tour will
take that concept on the road, with a ticket price pegged lower
than usual in an attempt to connect a new generation to the power
of music with something to say.
|
- 10/11/2011
While all and sundry, politicians and royalty display their Red
Poppies in public at ceremonies to remember Britain's war dead,
Britain, Israel and the US are ramping up proposals to bomb Iran.
This is while Britain spent a reported £1.7Billion this year
bombing Libya and killing thousands of civilians, but really for
regime change and to send a decisive message to China to get their
investment out of Libya. |
- 19/10/2011
I visited the London Stock Exchange in the summer and I thought
then it was the right place for a protest. A few months on and I
found it would be occupied along with about eight hundred other
occupations all over the world. Cities including New York, Berlin,
Athens and Rome were standing together against a world which has
become so hostile to people's needs. |
- 14/10/2011
Windmill Wholefoods/Liverpool Green Co-op has been given notice
to quit their premises by the end of October. They thought they
had a new shop lined up, but this was dependent on securing finance
and they are trying to spread the word about their situation to
as many people as possible in the hope that they can make the most
of any help that people may be happy to offer. |
- 11/10/2011
On Sunday, I was on Westminister Bridge in London when around 3,000
other
supporters and NHS defenders blocked the bridge, in an act of anger
and civil disobedience. Why are we angry? The bill for NHS reforms
that our Government has been rushing through Parliament threatens
to rip apart the patients before profits values our NHS currently
holds and has been heavily condemned by health professionals. |
For anyone aspiring to be a writer, wanting to see a new play in
development or wanting to work with the UK’s leading practitioners,
Everyword 2011 new writing festival is a two-week whirlwind of events,
readings, discussions, debates and workshops. This year the festival
moves to the Playhouse taking full advantage of the different spaces
around the building, including the exciting reopening of the Playhouse
Studio, from Monday 7 to Saturday 19 November 2011.
|
- 29/9/2011
The 4th annual Bold Street Festival, held over the weekend of 24th
– 25th September, was a huge success for the organisers and
a testament to the effectiveness of great community spirit. The
attendance of 20,000 easily surpassed last year’s figure (14,000)
and demonstrated how a community of independent traders, working
with City Central BID, can produce spectacular results from a small
budget. |
Robert King - The Story of a Black Panther. This will be introduced
by Prof. Joe Sim, then a screening of 'In the Land of the Free',
followed by questions and answers with Robert King. Convicted of
a murder he didn't commit, Robert King was sentenced to life without
parole and spent 29 years in solitary confinement (a 6ft x 9 ft
cell) in Louisiana's Angola prison until his release in 2001.
|
- 6/9/2011
Tracey Dunn reports from the Royal Liverpool Hospital on Prescot
St. on the demo to support the NHS. A blustery and at times rainy
day didn’t prevent over 100 people from turning out to condemn
Andrew Lansley’s Health and Social Care Bill. |
- 24/8/2011
George Clarke is a young architect making a series about empty homes
in Britain as well as working on the 'Restoration' TV show for Channel
4. He arrived with his crew just after monsoon weather had hit the
street. Channel 4 have commissioned the show to highlight the amount
of empty homes which could be lived in and that we have so many
people in need of decent homes. |
- 24/8/2011
Over 100 people packed into the Eldonian Village Hall on 15th August
for a remarkable 100th anniversary commemoration. The meeting was
to honour Michael Prendergast and John William Sutcliffe, who lost
their lives on 15th August 1911 when they were shot by soldiers
on the nearby Vauxhall Road. Local historians Ron Noon and Sam Davies
spoke and introduced a number of other speakers. |
- 16/8/2011
Over 100 people gathered on St George's Plateau on Saturday 13th
August to mark the 100th anniversary of Liverpool's Bloody Sunday.
The rally was called by Liverpool Trades Council. The meeting was
opened by Liverpool Socialist Singers' rendering of Power in a Union
and local singer Alun Parry's tribute to the Limerick Soviet. |
- 12/8/2011
Following a 10% cut in legal aid fees for refugees seeking asylum
in the UK, the UK best known legal firm that are helping asylum
seekers and refuges in their various cases, the Immigration Advisory
Services (IAS), has closed all its doors within the UK as the firm
has been undergoing in administration. |
- 4/8/2011
The Daily Mail has a long history of printing right-wing, bigoted,
racist and homophobic comments. As if these aren't enough reasons
not to buy The Daily Mail, it now has a weekly column by Kelvin
Mackenzie. Mackenzie was the editor of the Sun when the Hillsborough
victims were vilified. It seems he has found his natural home at
The Daily Mail. |
- 29/7/2011
Laura Naylor interviews Max Rubin and Simon Hedger from Lodestar
Theatre who produce The Liverpool Shakespeare Festival. This year
the festival features Romeo and Juliet at the St. George's Hall
from 25th August - 11th September and ends with "Come and have
a go if you think you're Bard enough!", a production of Richard
III featuring 25 theatre companies and 100 actors! |
- 20/7/2011
Visitors to the opening of the new Liverpool Museum were greeted
by a union demonstration against low pay. A third of museum staff
earn less than £15,000 per year and most cleaners have to
survive on £450 per month. |
- 15/7/2011
A world full of conflict and oppression will always produce refugees.
We can think of Albert Einstein who had to flee from the Nazi regime
or former Chelsea player Mario Stanic who escaped the Bosnian War.
Appalled by the stories they had heard from people at Asylum Link
Merseyside, a group of activists decided to take action. They just
gathered for one hour of silence every month to protest against
the local detention centre and to raise public awareness. |
- 11/7/2011
The long saga of the proposed demolition of beautiful Victorian
houses on Cairns Street (Off Granby Street, L8) went onto a new
phase today as the demolishers turned up. But the remaining residents
on Cairns Street and supporters from the surrounding streets (primarily
elderly women), put a stop to the demolition, by blocking the way
of both demolishers and police. |
- 11/7/2011
This event at Liverpool’s Static Gallery on Thursday 4th August
brings together two Liverpool bands each of which share the capacity
to create soundtracks for imaginary movies of the mind. Coupled
with projected visuals and compelling samples this is sure to be
an unforgettable experience. |
 - 7/7/2011
The Reverend Billy will be in News from Nowhere on Tuesday 12th
July at 6.30. and then at the , 13 Shaw Street on 13th July, 7pm (quote promotion code
'BILLY2011' when buying tickets and get 2 tickets for a fiver instead
of £10 full price!)
Check him out
exorcising the Demon 'monoculture' from the cash registers at Tesco
on Bold Street a few years ago.
|
- 1/7/2011
The Insurrection at Liverpool’s FACT saw many artists perform
to an appreciative crowd of people but when Spain’s Tibi &
her cello performed an electrifying and impressive set the people
in the room were in numbers not seen since the opening night of
the event. |
- 15/6/2011
The long awaited debut album by Emily and the Faves is released
through the band’s own label next week, with a launch party
gig taking place this Friday at the Static Gallery. Nerve met up
with front woman Emily for an interview. |
- 27/5/2011
Michelle McKay interviews Daniel Cutmore, manager of Look 11 Photography
Festival Liverpool. Daniel speaks eloquently about various aspects
of Look 11, including special mention at the end about photographer
Tim Hetherington who was recently killed in Libya. |
- 20/5/2011
Tracey Dunn attended a two day Forest Garden course in Shrewsbury.
Forest Gardening is about working in harmony with nature using no
pesticides or fertilizers. It utilizes companion planting like planting
pear trees or strawberries next to each other as they help each
other grow. |
- 16/5/2011
On Monday 9th May a lively protest took place outside the ATOS HQ
in Old Hall Street, Liverpool, where people stood outside The Plaza
campaigning against the organisation’s attempt to stop people
claiming sickness benefits by declaring them fit for work. |
- 10/5/2011
This year is the 30th anniversary of the Toxteth Riots and Writing
on the Wall put on a commemorative day and night at the Kuumba Imani
Centre in Liverpool 8. Featuring a talk from Bonnie Greer, a discussion
on "Back to the Future, Riots Then & Now", Maria O'Reilly,
founder of Liverpool 8 Defence Committee, told harrowing true stories
of racism and police brutality. Other speakers were Levi Tafari,
Kevin Sampson and Billy Hayes. |
The Nerve Centre at FACT is finished now but to read interviews
and reviews and see photos and films of some of the events there,
including Jo Bywater, 20lb Sounds, Juve, Jazamin Sinclair, Mashemon,
Tibi and Her Cello go to the .
- -
|
- 2/4/2011
After the amazing success of last year’s , when an unprecedented fifty thousand people attended the
festival, the event is gearing for its Twentieth Anniversary. Held
in Liverpool’s iconic Sefton park over the weekend of the
18th and 19th June, expectations for 2011’s event are already
building. Nerve met up with Festival Director Paul Duhaney to discuss
this year’s event. |
- 31/3/2011
Whilst Manchester has long had a reputation for bands who deal in
dark or melancholy subject matter, groups from Liverpool have tended
more towards the optimistic. The rise of Super-Cannes however may
change this received wisdom as the band tap into the same vein of
angsty noir-pop as The Doors and Radiohead. After a long gestation
period in the practice room and a slow trickle of gigs the group
are now ready to take their music to the masses. Nerve met up with
them for an interview. |
- 24/3/2011
The Liverpool For Japan website has been set up to bring together
the various events happening around Liverpool in response to the
earthquake and tsunami which occured on 11th March 2011 in the North
East Japan.
It will list any fundraising events, spiritual events, messages
of support, suggestions for how you can help etc. |
- 24/3/2011
Film director Ken Loach and actor Mark Womack were in Liverpool
recently for the premiere of their movie "Route Irish,"
which tells the story of a man who comes home from Iraq but is unable
to leave the war behind. Nerve interviewed them at FACT Picturehouse.
|
- 24/3/2011
Lisa Marie White reports on the march through Liverpool on 12th
March 2011 to celebrate International Women's Day. |
- 10/3/2011
In an era when digital recording, editing and mixing has made music
making vastly easier, thankfully there are always those who want
to push the new technology as far as it can go. Fo’netiks
are one such band, utilizing every available bit of technology they
can lay their hands on, whilst keeping one foot firmly rooted in
the need to play live. Along with their stunning visuals, the three-piece
stand as positive proof that innovation amongst Liverpool bands
is alive and well. Nerve met up with them for an interview. |
- 8/3/2011
Tracey Dunn reports on the 100th Anniversary of International Women's
Day held at the London Borough of Havering's Technical College on
Saturday March 5th 2011.
"I arrived to a rapidly filling
up hall and was welcomed with a goodie bag of 'International Women's
Day' themed treats including chocolates and an umbrella. My glee
was reduced however when I realised the day was hosted by London's
Metropolitan Police." |
- 3/3/2011
The normal silence of Liverpool’s financial sector after office
hours was broken by a crowd of protesters from the local community,
Unions and others outside the Town Hall, which had been re-titled
‘Peoples Town Hall’ by virtue of a well placed sticker
over the bolted shut front doors. , |
- 1/3/2011
One Man's Attempts to Find Work On Merseyside. In my attempts fo
find work, I got a lift through the Mersey Tunnel and walked to
New Brighton. "There's work there," my mate said, and
there is. It's a massive site run by Bower and Kirkland. It is a
big Neptune Development and all the vans sub-contractors have Yorkshire,
Manchester and York post codes and numbers. |
- 18/2/2011
Fresh from playing St. George’s Hall late last year and a
headline slot at the Family Folk Up gig at the Scandinavian Church,
Dead Cities are possibly the nearest Liverpool has to the likes
of The Band and Eliot Smith. Additionally influenced by nu-folk,
US punk, and George Orwell, their dystopian lyrics prove initial
appearances can be deceiving, however. Nerve met up with them for
an interview. |
- 9/2/2011
Tracey who runs her own 'news channel' on twitter informing her
followers of actions and events, writes about social media technology
and the recent uprisings in Egypt. |
- 7/2/2011
All girl trio Stealing Sheep have built up a considerable buzz in
Liverpool and beyond with their take on psychedelic nu-folk, leading
them to be placed on many ‘Ones to Watch’ lists for
2011. Nerve met up with them for an interview. |
- 4/2/2011
Photographic exhibition and video installation. The event is to
showcase the creative work produced by members of Mary Seacole House
and is an opportunity for the group to express and to share with
the public the positive changes that the Journey of Principles of
Pleasure project has brought about within their lives. Their work
is a projection of the participants emotional and cognitive journey
each has made from thoughts of I can’t to I can. The exhibition
is an invitation to the public to be inspired and to ‘Take
notice.’
February 10th - March 11th, 11.30am-6pm at the Rapid Paint Shop,
28-32 Renshaw Street. |
- 2/2/2011
Southport band Misery Guts stand as positive proof that acoustic
guitars and understated melodies can produce results as dark as
anything produced by indie guitar slingers in thrall to Joy Division
and The Cure. A fixture on the Liverpool gig circuit over the past
twelve months, the group are beginning to build up a sizeable buzz
around them. |
- 20/1/2011
To commemorative the 100th anniversary of the death of Robert Tressell,
the author of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, there is a tour
around Liverpool of two dramas, One Of The Damned and 21st Century
Philanthropists, plus talks by people who have been influenced by
the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. |
- 17/1/2011
Breathe Out Theatre present Rid The World which charts the events
of the 1911 Liverpool Transport Strike led by activist Tom Mann.
Rid The World will open in the centenary year of the strike at The
Salford Lowry before going on to The Liverpool Unity Theatre from
Thurs 17th to Sat 19th March. |
- 17/1/2011
100th Meridian Theatre Company present A Crime of Compassion. Set
in Liverpool during the 1930s, George, an unemployed docker, joins
a protest march to London about the rise in unemployment. He is
subsequently arrested, branded a communist and gaoled. After his
release, George joins the freedom fighters of the International
Brigade to fight for the democratically elected government of Spain
against Franco’s Fascist coup where he finds himself trapped
in a Villa with two other brigadiers and three Spanish Republicans.
They are outnumbered and surrounded, with no way out. Do they surrender
or fight to the death?
From 9th - 12th March at 7.30pm at , 36 Seel Street, Liverpool. |
- 17/12/2010
The Old Rapid Hadware paint shop (former Nerve Centre site) is hosting
a fascinating artistic exhibition, dubbed 'Home is where the heart
is'. The exhibition - which consists of works by local artists and
refugees based in the Liverpool area - has had its doors open to
the public since Friday 10th December. |
- 17/12/2010
The recent student demonstrations received an extensive amount of
media attention. Typically most coverage focused on London, where
an outburst of violence eclipsed the protests on Merseyside and
elsewhere in the UK. The tabloid friendly invasion of the Tory headquarters
ensured a media frenzy subsequently clouding debate surrounding
the real issues. |
- 17/12/2010
Lady Lillith Leveigh has been a professional practicing artist for
the past twenty years. She designs sculptural installations set
on ancient cultures in a post modern context to address the concepts
of body politics, spirituality and the interrelations on art and
artefact. Victoria Samantha Smith went to her studio to find out
more about her and her work. |
- 15/12/2010
Sebastian Gahan gives the lowdown on the launch of the Nerve 17/1911
Transport Strike Calendar which took place at the Bluecoat as part
of the Bed-in, and featured the Socialist Choir, Tayo Aluko, Vinny
Timmins, poetry, gruel, and much more. |
- 9/12/2010
TWO workers were killed in an horrific industrial accident at the
Sonae wood processing factory in Kirkby on Tuesday 7th December.
Thomas Elmer, 27, and James Bibby, 25, both from Rossendale, Lancashire,
were working for sub-contractor Metso when the accident happened.
Dave Whyte and Steve Tombs here call for the factorys' closure.
|
- 8/12/2010
Gambian Journalist forced to seek asylum in the UK - My name is
Pa Modou Bojang, I was born on the 16th of February 1975 in the
West African Commonwealth nation of The Gambia. In Gambia I worked
as a journalist on both radio and newspapers. |
- 1/12/2010
Nerve talks to David Lewis, author and photographer of The Beatles:
Liverpool Landscapes. The stated aim of the book is to see the stories
“from the city’s perspective, not the fans,” staking
out corners of the city that other Beatles’ writers had overlooked
or neglected to write about at length. |
- 23/11/2010
Hailed as one of the best bands in Britain at the tail end of the
1990s and well into the last decade, Six by Seven were highly revered
by the music press and their peers. Following the eventual dissolution
of Six by Seven in November 2008, lead singer, guitarist and creative
force Olley returned to his first love - photography. Nerve interviewed
Chris Olley on the 92 Stadiums
project, his music and the state of the national game. |
- 20/11/2010
One of the most enduring adaptations of H.G. Wells’ groundbreaking
work, Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
has toured as a stage show since 2006. The original album the production
is based on was a huge international hit upon its release in 1978,
going on to clock up worldwide sales of fifteen million. Prior to
playing the Liverpool Echo Arena on 7th December, Nerve met up with
Jeff for an interview. |
- 13/11/2010
On a cold, wintry day and night of discontent in many ways, both
physical and political, an event of the latter variety took place
outside the Town Hall in Liverpool. United in opposition to the
savage cuts lined up for the city, a plethora of groups gathered
to pass the message that they were against the cuts and would fight
all the way. |
- 8/11/2010
“Asylum seekers are not out to claim benefits”, the
people of Merseyside were told recently. Ben Kamara, a caseworker
of the UK based charity organization, Asylum Link, was speaking
on the concept of asylum and the need of support for asylum seekers,
as part of a forum recently organized to create awareness about
the phenomenon. |
- 8/11/2010
DaDaFest claims to be the biggest deaf and disability arts festival
worldwide and DaDaFest International 2010 presents art from a unique
cultural perspective, challenging the thoughts of the audience with
its theme ‘objects of curiosity and desire’. Tom Bottle
asked DaDa head Ruth Gould answers a few questions on DaDaFest and
its connection with the local arts scene. |
- 1/11/2010
Before his final show in England of the tour, lead singer and guitarist
of Maps and Atlases Dave Davison sat back stage with me and talked
about what it was like playing in the UK, the release of their new
record, Perch Patchwork and what might be next for him and the band.
|
- 20/10/2010
Last seen on TV in 2008 fronting Simple Minds before a vast audience
at Nelson Mandela’s ninetieth birthday celebration, Jim Kerr’s
usual territory in a live environment is arenas and stadiums, having
played the US leg of Live Aid, the original awareness raising Mandela
concert in 1988 and an arena tour last year that visited Liverpool.
His new side project Lostboy! AKA however, finds him trading in
the arenas for far smaller venues on the Electroset tour. |
- 5/10/2010
After 4 full-on weeks of cutting edge art, poetry, music, film,
performance and discussion, it became clear that there was not only
a demand for a permanent space but there is a definite need. With
over 100 events, organized entirely by volunteers on a shoe string
budget, and over 2000 people attending the Centre, many staying
around to get involved, it became more and more apparent that the
Nerve Centre had a future, or at least needs a future. |
- 27/9/2010
Imagine a white dorsal fin the size of half a tablecloth rising
out of the River Mersey off Bootle docks. However, this was no shark,
but a giant Finn called Antti Laitinen who was drifting at the mercy
of a keen north wind and the incoming tide on a raft. |
- 18/9/2010
Martin Greenland, winner of John Moores Prize 2006 with Before Vermeer's
Clouds, has an exhibition, New Fiction starting next week at the
Cornerstone Gallery. Gayna Rose Madder asked him how this came about.
|
-
18/9/2010
Jason Jones, manager of Liverpool Hope University's prestigious
Cornerstone Art Gallery, is the first artist ever to take the Independents
Biennial into a major national department store in Liverpool One
- John Lewis. Gayna Rose Madder asks him some questions about how
all of this happened. |
- 15/9/2010
Alexei Sayle’s recently published autobiography Stalin Ate
My Homework has been greeted with critical acclaim and as part of
his extensive promotional tour for the book he came to Liverpool’s
radical independent bookshop News From Nowhere to sign copies and
meet fans. Nerve met up with him for an interview. |
- 6/9/2010
Drawings of life in a North-West prison sent in to Nerve Magazine. |
- 1/9/2010
Elia and Lily are two Iranian asylum seekers, who fearing for their
life fled Iran. Elia was working on a blog exposing the repression
of opponents of the regime and highlighting the work of human rights
groups. His co-blogger was arrested and Elia went on the run with
his wife Lily. They arrived in the UK in 2009 and claimed asylum.
But the UK government has rejected their application. And now they
face deportation. |
- 26/8/2010
The Egg Café's gallery – HeadSpace – has recently
celebrated its 5th year with a special birthday exhibition, featuring
the work of contributing artists from the gallery's lifetime. In
recognition of the gallery's five year achievement, Nerve met up
with its curators – Karen Henley and Jazamin Sinclair –
to find out more about the history of HeadSpace. |
- 26/8/2010
In a career that has seen him feature on a dozen highly varied albums
running the gamut from Beefheartian blues, Japanese folktronica,
classically tinged violin-led pop, Mersey skiffle, and Byrdsian
indie rock, Steve Pilgrim has also found time to have a solo career.
In addition to his two critically acclaimed singer-songwriter focused
solo albums, he now serves as an integral part of Paul Weller’s
backing band. Nerve met up with him for an interview. |
- 20/8/2010
This year sees the return of the Liverpool Biennial, featuring work
by invited UK and International artists. The Independents Biennial
runs alongside this major event, showcasing UK-based artists, but
also involving multiple exhibitions and events around Merseyside.
|
- 12/8/2010
Following the success of her solo career Candie Payne has re-grouped
and become the lead singer of a band. Nerve talked to her on the
new direction her career has taken and her stunning new group The
Big House. |
- 15/7/2010
Earlier this year, lifelong and well-known artist Frances Conway-Seymour
was told she had only weeks to live. This has prompted her to mount
a retrospective exhibition of part of the vast body of work she
has produced over some decades, from 1954 to the present, which
can be seen at the Lark Lane Atelier. |
- 1/7/2010
"Act It Out" is a drama festival on the theme of health
produced by Dingle Community Theatre to show the Health Benefits
of Drama and to give people the opportunities to take part in performance
activities. It takes place from 12th - 21st July. |
- 18/6/2010
Dominic Murphy interviews Keith Saha of 20 Stories High. 20 Stories
High develop their productions at the old and unique Edge Hill station.
Their numerous award-winning productions have toured the nation.
|
- 12/6/2010
The Review Field in Sefton Park will play host one of the biggest
free music festivals in the UK on the weekend of the 19th and 20th
of June. Held in the shadow of the magnificent Palm House, Africa
Oye is a celebration of world music and culture, which attracted
over 20,000 people last year. A huge success, but this year’s
event promises to be even bigger. Expect to hear Afrobeat, dub,
roots, reggae, salsa, dancehall, and many other genres. In anticipation
of the weekend Nerve spoke to festival director Paul Duhaney. |
- 31/5/2010
Under darkness of night, Israeli commandoes dropped from a helicopter
onto the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, and began to shoot
the moment their feet hit the deck. They fired directly into the
crowd of civilians asleep. Latest reports put the death toll at
19 with dozens injured. |
- 29/5/2010
"We want to leave a legacy the people of the city can be proud
of", commented Artistic Director of the Everyman Theatre Gemma
Bodinetz, at the unveiling of the designs of the new building. |
- 27/5/2010
The Liverpool Art Prize celebrates city's leading artists with an
exhibition launching on 3rd June 2010 and running for 5 weeks with
a fascinating and diverse selection of works by 5 short-listed artists,
Gina Czarnecki, David Jacques, James Quin, Paul Rooney and Emily
Speed. |
- 20/5/2010
Since Independent Record Shop Day was held recently to highlight
the importance of independent retailers in the UK, it seems a perfect
time to look at the history of Probe, Liverpool’s most famous
alternative music shop. Now approaching its fourtieth year and in
its third location, Probe continues to thrive, despite the music
industry being a vastly different beast compared to the one in the
early 1970s. |
- 20/3/2010
As the son of highly acclaimed and politically savvy British folk
singer Roy, it is not surprising that Nick Harper champions a very
unique musical approach. Amy Scott-Samuel met up with Nick before
his set at the Masque Theatre, to ask him about some of the high
points that span his twenty five year career. |
- 11/3/2010
Liverpool Council have demolished Christians, the biggest fruit
and vegetable stall in the city, which had been on Bold Street for
twenty years. So much for healthy eating.
|
- 11/12/2009
Penny the Penguin is a user-friendly, festive art installation,
integrating creative art and human interaction with visual and online
technology, and is part of , a Merseyside-wide cultural art initiative. |
- 25/11/2009
Regeneration zone signs are placed up around most parts of the city
with Anfield, Breckfield, Granby, Bootle, Norris Green and countless
more areas continuing to suffer the scorn of the word ‘regeneration’
which has left most of them looking half derelict and war-torn.
|
- 25/11/2009
Fronted by Darren White, ex-vocalist with Liverpool doom metal pioneers
Anathema, Serotonal are one of the few bands playing heavy music
on Merseyside. Matt Ford spoke to four of them on the eve of the
release of their debut full-length album, 'Monumental: Songs Of
Misery And Hope'. |
- 20/11/2009
The Altcross Foot Path in Croxteth is due to be closed, or gated,
with the reason given that it is a focus for crime. Two huge and
permanently locked metal gates will physically divide old Croxteth
from new Croxteth, friends and family from easily visiting one another.
|
- 27/5/2009
The remarkable life of Liverpool born George Melly – jazz
musician, writer, art, film and music critic, lecturer on surrealism,
raconteur and party animal – is being celebrated in a self-titled
exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery. A series of paintings and
drawings of Melly is on display, by one of Britain’s most
acclaimed artists, Maggi Hambling. |
- 13/5/2009
I had thought that anyone with any sense would take Joey Owens’
so-called autobiography (Action! Race War to Door Wars) with a very
large pinch of salt. However, some people who should know better
have proved that this is not always the case. So, here’s a
review of sorts. |
- 26/3/2009
An interesting art and social issues event is due to take place
at the Black-E Arts Centre in Liverpool.
The Pax Republic Convention is the first phase of the launch of
a new transnational community building project which aims to unite
Liverpool based artists, academics, faith based groups, students,
filmmakers, poets, musicians, theatre, dance and business people
with communities in Cape Town, Istanbul, Guadalajara and London.
|
- 26/3/2009
John Moores Vice Chancellor Michael Brown fled a group of 150 angry
students and their supporters in his BMW (complete with JMU 1 numberplate)
yesterday afternoon. In doing so, he postponed a showdown over his
plans to cut thirty-four courses from September. |
- 21/3/2009
Merseyside Job Centre queues grew by the largest amount in eighteen
years last month, bringing back memories of traumatic times before
the 'regeneration' gold rush and the credit boom.
The number of Jobseekers' Allowance claimants in the region - which
officially includes Liverpool, Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley, Halton
and St Helens - increased by 7,532 in February, taking the total
to 52,524. This represents a month on month rise of 7.14%, the most
severe since 1991. |
- 1/2/2009
Graham Holland writes about the Liverpool Acoustic website which
is designed as a central resource for anyone interested in acoustic
music in and around the Liverpool area. Whether they're a musician
looking for an open mic event where they can play for the first
time, or just a lover of acoustic music looking for somewhere to
go for a good night out, they'll find all the information they need
on the site. |
- 7/1/2009
As Liverpool hands the Capital of Culture baton over to Vilnius
and Linz, the city’s economy is in for an extremely tough
year. Top council leaders claim Liverpool is in particularly good
shape to ride out the global economic collapse, but statistics and
analysis show they could not be further from the truth. |
-14/08/2008
MADeA writes "Outside of and after the Beatles, our greatest
triumph of musical individuality and freedom, Liverpool music's
story has been one of conformity and constraint. Today to be a successful
"Liverpool" band or artist embraced by the local media
and propelled to national and international levels, one must don
a stylistic “scouserock” straightjacket."
|
The
Streets You Have No Right To Walk Down - 5/7/2008
On Thursday, 3rd July 2008, spoke at a session of the 'Capital, Culture, Power: Criminalisation
and Resistance' conference organised by the University of Liverpool,
John Moores University, and Nerve magazine.The topic of his speech
was the controversial Liverpool One development. |
- 19/5/2008
The TUC and Unite have put together a “Walking Tour of Liverpool,
City of Protest”. A two-hour walk around town takes you around
15 sites of demonstrations, strikes, protests and commemorations.
You start outside St George’s Hall, where the police attacked
demonstrators on Liverpool’s Bloody Sunday in August 1911.
|
- 23/4/2008
Option One: Kirkby grandmother
and retired laundry worker Dot Reid plus loads of her neighbours
get chucked out of their homes, which are then demolished to make
way for yet another Tesco, some more shops, and a new stadium for
Everton FC.
Option Two: Tesco boss Sir Terry
Leahy gets slung out of his luxury home in Hertfordshire, which
is then demolished to make way for a community garden with water
features and a kiosk for pensioners. |
|
Fragments
- or the beginning of the endgame
Milk:
Presents #2012: The Milk Manifesto
Fireweed
- Portable Gardens
Writing
On The Wall Festival 2012 'Below Decks'
The
Spectacle of a Spectacle
It’s
A Sensation: Liverpool’s Windmill Wholefoods
Fireweed
- Pay and Display, Blackbird Dusk & Pigeon Afternoon
Lucky
Beaches’ Singularities Explained: Lucky Beaches Interview
Fireweed
- Before the Blizzard
Fireweed
- St John’s Gardens & Springing to Life 
Liverpool
Big Song and Dance
Write
Now One Act Play Festival 2012
The
Getintothis Award: Peter Guy Interview
The
Vagina Monologues
David
Rovics
The
Circus on Lime Street
Dead
Belgian and other musical ventures
Interview
with Eye Emma Jedi
Back
from a Drink at the Brink...
NO
to NHS privatisation
Occupying
Wall Street - The inside story of an action that changed America
Burjesta
Theatre presents Gathering Jack
Everyman
and Playhouse throws open its doors to young people
The
Old Dark House
Rally
for workers sacked by Liverpool Mutual Homes
Occupy,
Uncut and Anonymous Liverpool under recent attacks by security guards
and arrests by police
UK
Uncut HSBC action 7th Jan 2012
Mashemon
Interview: Making Lists with Mashemon
STRIKE!
A
visit to the Occupy Liverpool camp
URGENT!
Stop BBC Local Radio Cuts!
The
Fish Rots from the Capitalist Head - Riots in the wasteland of the
free
‘The
1911 Liverpool General Transport Strike Revisited’
Left
Field in Motion
Poppies
for Peace
Occupy
the London Stock Exchange
Don’t
Let Windmill Close!
Block
the Bridge – Save the NHS
Everyword
Festival
Bold
Street Festival – a Community Success Story
Robert
King - Critical Research Seminar Series at LJMU
Demo
at Royal Liverpool Hospital to defend the NHS
Channel
4 visit Cairns Street Toxteth for 'The Empty Homes Show'
Two
workers shot dead by soldiers in 1911 are honoured
Bloody
Sunday Rally
Plight
of Asylum Seekers and Refugees Augments
Don’t
Buy The Daily Mail
Interview
with Max Rubin and Simon Hedger of Lodestar
Low
Pay at New Museum!
The
Circle of Silence
Cairns
Streets blockaded, as street resistance begins
An
Interview with Tibi and her cello
Emily
and The Faves Interview
Interview
With Daniel Cutmore
Forest
Gardening in Shropshire
Demonstration
Against Benefit Cuts
Rioting
on the Wall
INSURRECTION
at FACT
Africa
Oye Preview 2011
Super-Cannes
Interview: The Sound Sweep
Liverpool
For Japan
Interview
with Ken Loach and Mark Womack
International
Women's Day Celebrations in Liverpool
The
Sound of Fo’netiks
International
Women's Day Celebrations
Protest
at the People's Town Hall
Down
And Out In Liverpool
The
Rise of Dead Cities: Dead Cities Interview
Egypt
and twitter
Stealing
Sheep: Scandinavia to Liverpool and Back Again
Principles
of Pleasure
Gather
Yourselves Together for… Misery Guts
Robert
Tressell Commemorative Drama Events
Rid
The World
A
Crime of Compassion
Liverpool
Arts Exhibition Aims to Empower Asylum Seekers
Students
take to the streets
Art
and Artefact by Lady Lillith Leveigh
Nerve
17 Launched at the Bluecoat
Shut
down Sonae!
The
story of Pa Modou Bojang
The
Beatles: Liverpool Landscapes
Ninety-Two
by One: Chris Olley Interview
The
War of the Worlds: Alive on Stage
Protest
against Cuts
DaDaFest
International 2010
Dave
Davison of Maps and Atlases
Interview
with Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr
The
Nerve Centre on the move
Artful
Dodger
Martin
Greenland’s New Fiction
Liverpool
Biennial 2010: John Lewis department store gets involved!
Alexei’s
New Book On Sayle
Pictures
of Prison Life
'Back
to Iran?'
Headspace's
5th Birthday
Pilgrim’s
Progress: An Interview with Steve Pilgrim
The
Six Rooms Gallery
Music
from The Big House
Frances
Conway-Seymour Profile
Act
It Out
Tall
Tales
Africa
Oye 2010 Preview
Civilians
Under Attack by Israel
Plans
Unveiled For New Everyman
The
Liverpool Art Prize 2010
A
Brief History of Probe Records
Interview
with Nick Harper
Christians
thrown to the lions
Every
Penny Counts!
Regeneration
and Cairns Street
Interview
with Serotonal
Altcross
Foot Path - Keep it Open!
Good
Time George
Pax
Republican Convention
John
Moores Students Protest Against Cuts
Liverpool
Acoustic
Liverpool
2009: Capital Of Crisis?
Music
in Liverpool
Radical
Route through Liverpool
