premiere of neil campbell's ghost stories at st luke's church

There was a sense of adventure and a rain-soaked cameraderie from an audience mostly clothed in plastic ponchos on sale at the door.
But I must admit, even with boots, a mac, a poncho, a woolly hat and a big umbrella I felt decidedly damp as I sat there is the middle of Liverpool's most atmospheric ruin.
Still, what the audience shared was a desire to come out and hear a new work - and support its hard-working composer on what was an unfortunately filthy evening.
Neil and singer Anne Taft sat beneath the shelter of a gazebo to perform the 50-minute work which included video images beamed on to a screen behind them and a haunting soundscape of wind (not that it was needed!) and chiming bells.
Neil plays exquisitely and I loved the instrumental movements on his classical guitar. Anne's powerful soprano voice soared mysteriously up and out of the church ruin, but I did feel the vocal sections were a bit samey and didn't really advance anywhere.
I know Neil and his collaborator, Liverpool PR company boss Bill Elms, are keen to tour the work at other open air festivals in the future - Bill told me he thought it would be particularly atmospheric at big festivals at stately homes where the video projection could be beamed on the side of the grand houses.
Good luck to them, and I hope they get a run of good weather for a change....