I am afraid I was not able to visit but have been very heartened to see the art work which was on show in conjunction with the music very well documented by several photographers including Terry Hayes and Bernie Howden. Looked like there were some interesting pieces there and I think there is one show which is on-going by appointment…..someone put the details please…

Cello Boy says:

What’s in a name, or indeed what’s in a post?
I feel I have to respond to the first post here, which missed the whole point of this weekend.

I had nothing to do with the organisation of this event and I think there is a lot to be said in favour of putting on fewer bands and using fewer spaces, perhaps even just making this a two day event or schedule it for a Bank Holiday- all of which is exactly what happens when a group of people put on something as ambitious as this for the *first* time. As a performer, especially having been booked three of four months ago, then yes I was pretty hacked off when a sound man drafted in the day before the event started without the tech-spec for our 23 strong line-up was telling me there weren’t enough channels, not enough microphones, monitors and so on. It was a low point after so much anticipation, work, unforseen circumstances- but I left the building knowing that these things will be addressed. But with everyone giving their time up for free, there were bound to be a few mishaps along the way.

Things go wrong, but despite our experience, I know from spending the Friday night at Threshold an much of Saturday that this event was far from “excruciating” - it was a stepping stone towards establishing something that Liverpool really needs- a festival to call its own- . I didn’t see pretentious, I saw arty, I didn’t see talentless, I saw variety, I didn’t see soulless, I saw people moving from room to room soaking up the atmosphere and hopefully, like me, hoping the teething troubles can be addressed and Threshold 2012 will be the realisation of what audiences and artists had during the best bit (majority) of this weekend.

And without things like this, without culture, Arts, live music, bands trying to put on something special, theatre, cinema, dreams, hopes, aspirations- I fear there’s only the X-factor and a styrofoam wasteland waiting for us all out there.

Cello Boy says:

Did you see the artworks, the installation “Field Of Dreams”, the photography, any of the theatre, some of the band highlights such as We The Undersigned, Jo Bywater, Ogo, any of the bands in the mezzanine on the Friday, the retro games, the acoustic sets in the foyer cafe? If you can’t see the difference between artists and bands playing for free during the most ambitious event in Liverpool for a long time, and a load of varyingly talented singers singing cover songs on a Saturday tea-time to line the pockets of Simon Cowell et al in a popularity contest (audience vote, right?) - and there’s a place for both to exist in my view- then I don’t think we went to the same event.