UB40 at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral Review

Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral is a truly stunning building with its high arches and beautiful stained glass windows. Building the Cathedral was started just after the turn of the 20th Century, with its completion in 1978 after 74 long years it is now the largest Cathedral in the UK and the fifth largest in the world. The Cathedral is a hub of activity in Liverpool to both believers and non-believers and there are many different things to experience there, from prayer meetings to toddler groups, choral evenings to art exhibitions and not least UB40 concerts.

Seeing UB40 was a treat for me as I’ve been a fan for many years but this was the first time I’d seen them live, given that they’ve been recording and performing since 1978. They didn’t disappoint their many devotees in the audience as they performed many of their best known songs interspersed with some less well known, and most played to that wonderful rhythmic reggae beat that is their trademark.

Before I arrived at the Cathedral, I had thought that I would be surrounded by an audience of 40 to 60 year olds ‘reliving the old days’, but they only made up about half the audience, most of the rest I was stunned to see were young women in the 18 to 25 year old bracket who were clearly big fans and were having a fabulous time dancing in whatever space they were able to carve out for themselves. The Dean of the Cathedral who was there enjoying himself as well, was having a difficult time making himself available to all the young girls who were getting their girlfriends to take photos of them wrapped around him. I think he coped very well under the strain!

There was however one issue I had with the concert and that was the sound quality! I’m sure the sound system was good but the I think the acoustics of the building had a hard time dealing with the disparate sounds of the drums, saxophones, guitars, voices et al. In all, it produced an undercurrent of ‘noise’ that was very hard to ignore and detracted from the overall enjoyment of the night.

Would I go to see them again? Yes, but not at the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral.

Rating: 4/5

For more information visit www.liverpoolcathedral.org.uk