John Lennon… You Can Ring My Bell!

• 11th May 2009

As you may have heard, this Saturday as part of Liverpool's Arts Festival, John Lennon's 'Imagine' is set to be played from the city's Anglican Cathedral. The NME reported that when asked about the fact that John Lennon labelled the song as “anti-religious” the church responded that song lyrics such as “Imagine there's no heaven” had been taken into consideration. They said it doesn't mean they agree with the lyrics but they “…recognise its power to make us think. As a cathedral we do not shrink from debate. We recognise the existence of other world views.” The volunteer bell ringers are practising on hand bells prior to Saturday's performance.

Now, this could either be really good or a complete disaster. Yoko Ono said on her Facebook that the idea was “so beautiful, it made me choke up”. In theory the idea does sound good and if it works it could well be very beautiful. However, I'm slightly worried that they are practising on hand bells and there isn't (that I know of) a practice of the song on a larger scale beforehand. So, for want of a better term, it could indeed go ar*e up. If you want to find out for yourselves how it turns out the bells will ring out across Liverpool on Saturday 16th May three times at 12:00pm, 12:30pm and 13:30pm. Those of you who aren't in Liverpool at that particular time I'm sure will be able to catch it on YouTube at some point.

On the website this week we have plenty of news, along with all the latest music videos. We also have plenty of cd and live reviews including a review of Morrissey at Liverpool's Empire Theatre. There’s also a Faith No More competition, where you could be in with a chance of winning a copy of 'The Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection'. It's a two disc compilation, with disc two featuring B-Sides and rarities. This week's featured gigs include Vagabond, Misty's Big Adventure, Sorry and the Sinatra's, The Strange Death of Liberal England and The New Devices.