Latest uploads...
OK. So, here are reviews and photos for June 2017:
Norman Beaker Band in Blackpool
Ian Hunter in Liverpool
Cheap Trick in Manchester
The photos are what they are. Not my best but, then again, they were all taken on my phone...
Norman Beaker Band in Blackpool
Ian Hunter in Liverpool
Cheap Trick in Manchester
The photos are what they are. Not my best but, then again, they were all taken on my phone...
Older stuff...
Here is my review and a few photos of Iron Maiden - Leeds 11/05/2017, from the Book of Souls Tour.
Here are my thoughts on Congleton Unplugged 2016.
Here are my thoughts on Congleton Unplugged 2016.
My most recent excursion around Liverpool took me to L8, better known as Toxteth. I think my Toxteth Walkabout photos will surprise you.
Also, included on here for the first time, my photos from the eclipse, back in March. When I took them, in Toxteth Cemetery, it was so overcast and grey, it looked like I was in Manchester. I never looked at them. It took me about 4 months to even open them. When I did, I realised that I had taken photographs of things I didn't even see at the time. Because the images were all timestamped, I could see which one was taken when and, comparing that to the times of the eclipse in Liverpool, I uncovered some nice iages I didn't even know I'd taken. I managed to surprise myself! Oh, and before you ask, yes, I deliberately set my camera up to get the cross in the foreground. Why wouldn't you?!
Earlier this year, I took a short trip up the coast to visit Antony Gormley's installation, Another Place, on Crosby beach, just north of Liverpool. Whilst I was there I took some pictures of the sunset.
There's also my day out to Brimham Rocks, near Harrogate, with my friends, Mike and Jane. Then, a visit to Harrogate to revisit some of the places from my past, from late last year.
Don't forget my walk around Sefton Park, a look at a ghost street in L7, and the incredible Tobacco Warehouse at Stanley Dock, with photographs and writey bits is here... It is the first in a series of alternative views of Liverpool.
Also, included on here for the first time, my photos from the eclipse, back in March. When I took them, in Toxteth Cemetery, it was so overcast and grey, it looked like I was in Manchester. I never looked at them. It took me about 4 months to even open them. When I did, I realised that I had taken photographs of things I didn't even see at the time. Because the images were all timestamped, I could see which one was taken when and, comparing that to the times of the eclipse in Liverpool, I uncovered some nice iages I didn't even know I'd taken. I managed to surprise myself! Oh, and before you ask, yes, I deliberately set my camera up to get the cross in the foreground. Why wouldn't you?!
Earlier this year, I took a short trip up the coast to visit Antony Gormley's installation, Another Place, on Crosby beach, just north of Liverpool. Whilst I was there I took some pictures of the sunset.
There's also my day out to Brimham Rocks, near Harrogate, with my friends, Mike and Jane. Then, a visit to Harrogate to revisit some of the places from my past, from late last year.
Don't forget my walk around Sefton Park, a look at a ghost street in L7, and the incredible Tobacco Warehouse at Stanley Dock, with photographs and writey bits is here... It is the first in a series of alternative views of Liverpool.
Read any good books lately? Why not try these two...
Uncovered: The Mjollnir Affair Pt I
A Max Darkness novel
by Mark L. Potts

Uncovered is the story of a rock band by the name of Mjollnir. They aren’t quite as popular as they once were. Their CDs aren’t selling, people are not attending their live shows and interest in the band is almost non-existent. They hit rock bottom one night in Huddersfield when five people and a dog turn up to see the show and the singer falls off the stage and lands on the dog, killing it. After the gig, on the verge of packing it all in, someone jokingly comments that they’d probably get a bigger audience as a tribute band. So, they decide to give it a try and Thor’s Hammer take to the stage.
Whilst Mjollnir may not be in demand, Thor’s Hammer, the cover band, certainly is. It isn’t long before they are doing such great business that the genuine article is once more being courted by the fans and press alike. Now, Rock impresario, Dan D. Lion wants the genuine article for his ‘Classic RockFest’ at Donington Park. There’s lots of money at stake and all the band has to do is ensure that no one finds out what they’ve been up to.
It all seems so easy until journalist Dave Malcolm gets suspicious, so, the band’s manager, Mac Biggar, decides to have him kidnapped for a while. That’s when things start to get weird. Dave’s friend Max Darkness turns up and after Dave is released, the two go on a road trip, determined to see that justice is done. But who is guilty and, of what?
There’s the small matter of the band’s first singer – he was murdered and his ghost appears to be haunting the band. Now his remains have been found, but who murdered him? It could be anyone. How about effete snob and Mjollnir keyboard player, Hampton Court, or his heavily armed butler, Turret? There’s no end to the list of possible suspects. Could it be mad Geordie bass player Gordon ‘Gimme’ Moore? Black, Irish ex-punk, Dermot ‘Septic’ Murphy, or even the new boy, psychotic drummer Zil? Last, but not least, there’s Mjollnir’s American guitarist Tyler Kennedy Woodrow Davidson III, who is being hunted down by the girl he got pregnant eighteen years earlier, her crazy redneck brothers, and the eighteen year-old daughter he’s never seen.
Discovered: The Mjollnir Affair Pt II
A Max Darkness novel
by Mark L. Potts

Discovered is set amidst the highly competitive world of professional Scrabble and takes place, in Blackpool, during a week-long World Championship tournament.
Edward Turret, butler to Mjollnir keyboard wizard, Hampton Court, is attempting to realise his ambition of becoming World Scrabble Champion. However, during the competition, details of Turret’s strange past begin to emerge; a love affair, his extreme wealth, and, maybe, murder. Naturally, all of this comes as a shock to Hampton Court and his trailer park trash wife, Tammy-Lynn, especially when Turret disappears and Hampton is forced to prepare his own camomile tea.
Journalist Max Darkness is on assignment to cover the week’s events but, in reality, he’s come to see punk band, The Cynics, who have secured a residency at ‘The Dive on the Prom’. Max and his daughter, Lulu, become fugitives from the law after Max is framed for murder and Lulu assaults a policeman who is trying to arrest her father. In making their escape, they are forced to don disguises, which works out fine until Lulu almost runs her father over, with his own car.
Punk band, The Cynics, fall into the clutches of Blackpool mobster, Patrick Martin, after he sees their guitarist, Shark, deliberately electrocute a troublesome fan during a gig. They become embroiled in a bizarre plot to abduct the head of the ‘midget mafia’, an achondroplasic dwarf named Eeyore. However, The Cynics get so much more than they bargained for when they try to kidnap ‘The Seven Dwarfs’, as the little people arrive at the theatre for their performance.
Reality takes a beating and it becomes apparent that people are not necessarily who you thought they were. Moreover, just because someone died, doesn’t mean that they are actually dead.
Previous uploads...
My final Congleton-based review is the Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival 2014 Click on the link to start at the beginning or, you can view individual reviews and photos, below...
Saturday: The Hexmen, Jim Kirkpatrick and Heavy Weather, Steve Hayes and Les Hunt, The Blues Duo, After Hours Blues Band, Phil Maddocks and Nick Bayes.
Sunday: The Weave, Bearcats Blues Band, White Knuckle Blues Band, Pete Latham, Tom Seals Trio.
And, don't forget, you can still find all my other wonderful reviews and photographs from the long, long ago...
The Dirty Dozen Festival 2014.
My Leeds Walkabout, my meanderings around Kirkstall Abbey, and Ilkley Moor.
A look at Art Deco architecture in Blackpool.
Plus, reviews for: The Fire Beneath The Sea at The Blue Room Blackpool, Congleton Unplugged, Sweet Winn Dixie at The Beartown Cock, Chris Bevington & Friends at The Robin, and Chantel McGregor at The Robin.
Saturday: The Hexmen, Jim Kirkpatrick and Heavy Weather, Steve Hayes and Les Hunt, The Blues Duo, After Hours Blues Band, Phil Maddocks and Nick Bayes.
Sunday: The Weave, Bearcats Blues Band, White Knuckle Blues Band, Pete Latham, Tom Seals Trio.
And, don't forget, you can still find all my other wonderful reviews and photographs from the long, long ago...
The Dirty Dozen Festival 2014.
My Leeds Walkabout, my meanderings around Kirkstall Abbey, and Ilkley Moor.
A look at Art Deco architecture in Blackpool.
Plus, reviews for: The Fire Beneath The Sea at The Blue Room Blackpool, Congleton Unplugged, Sweet Winn Dixie at The Beartown Cock, Chris Bevington & Friends at The Robin, and Chantel McGregor at The Robin.
The 39 Steps
BearTown Radio 1st Birthday Bash
Congleton Town Hall
December 20th 2013
Click here for the photos and a few words...

Lauren Potts - NCTJ Reporter of The Year 2013
Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival 2013

Click on the links, below, for my reviews and photos of Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival 2013.
Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival 2013
Friday - The Weave, Remi Harris Trio.
Saturday - Johnny Hewitt and Tommy Allen, Steve Hayes and Les Hunt, The Slippery Hill Boys, Jim Kirkpatrick and Heavy Weather, Lucy Zirins, Phil Maddocks and Nick Bayes, The Jake Leg jug Band, The Robin Pierce Band, Adrian Ingram's Jazz Dawgs.
Sunday - Ron Sayer Jr, White Knuckle Blues Band, Rob Livesey Trio, Bearcats Blues Band, Sweet Winn Dixie, John Ainsworth, Cry Baby and The Hoochie Coochie Boys, The Freddie Garner Quartet, Junkhouse Dog Blues Band.
Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival 2013
Friday - The Weave, Remi Harris Trio.
Saturday - Johnny Hewitt and Tommy Allen, Steve Hayes and Les Hunt, The Slippery Hill Boys, Jim Kirkpatrick and Heavy Weather, Lucy Zirins, Phil Maddocks and Nick Bayes, The Jake Leg jug Band, The Robin Pierce Band, Adrian Ingram's Jazz Dawgs.
Sunday - Ron Sayer Jr, White Knuckle Blues Band, Rob Livesey Trio, Bearcats Blues Band, Sweet Winn Dixie, John Ainsworth, Cry Baby and The Hoochie Coochie Boys, The Freddie Garner Quartet, Junkhouse Dog Blues Band.
'Whereisthis?' Minster

OK. So, I went for a ride in a car with a strange man and this is where we ended up... Well, he offered me coffee and a giant Bourbon biscuit...
Hand on heart, where do you think this is?
I'll bet you are wrong.
Click here to find out if you were wrong.
Hand on heart, where do you think this is?
I'll bet you are wrong.
Click here to find out if you were wrong.
Fenton Town Hall

A couple of weeks ago, I took a trip to see what all the fuss was with Fenton Town Hall.
Click here for my humble opinion.
Click here for my humble opinion.
Parklive 2013

Click on the link for my review and photos of Parklive 2013
Hannah Potts
Graduating from Liverpool John Moores University
July 8th 2013
Rise and Fall - Michael Molloy and Alex Evans
I didn't know Michael Molloy, but I know a number of people who did. They tell me that he was a very talented young man. Michael was one of three people who died in the coach crash on the A3, in September 2012, returning to Liverpool from Bestival. He was a musician and his dream was to create music. Because Michael was denied the chance, his family and friends have made his dream reality with the release of Rise and Fall, featuring Michael on guitar, with vocals from his friend, Alex Evans. You can download the song on iTunes.
www.michaelmolloymusic.com
www.michaelmolloymusic.com
On 3rd May 2013, Chris Morgan joined me in the studio at BearTown Radio.
Part of the interview concerned Michael Molloy. Click the Play button to listen. |
I played the song on my radio show,
Mid Morning Madness on BearTown Radio, on 30th April 2013. Click the Play button to listen |