Photos and writing by Shavorne Wilbraham
On July 17, the M&S Bank Arena opened its arms to a lineup of Scouse royalty for a special, one-off musical extravaganza.
I’m not a Scouser, but I’m certainly not a stranger to Liverpool either – far from it.
I visit this wonderful music city at least once a month for leisure purposes, but I have to admit, when I heard about Zoe’s Place’ I felt the need to do my research.
As a thoroughbred ‘Stokie’, I now feel it is my duty to educate my non-Liverpudlian friends on why this wonderful charity is so important.
Zoe’s Place (Zoe being Greek for ‘life’) is a specialist hospice for babies, infants and very young children living with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions.
It offers respite care, palliative and end-of-life support, alongside professional therapies and holistic family care.
In short, it’s regarded as a Liverpool institution.
In October 2024, the hospice was facing closure as their lease was due to expire in mid-2025, and rising costs left it without adequate funding to relocate.
They were faced with the daunting task of raising £5 million in just 31 days to stay open.
The astounding support from the public, local businesses, and celebrities led to an unbelievable fundraising success, raising just over £7.5 million to secure the future of the hospice.
A night to remember
It’s now 7pm and the arena is filling up nicely. Local DJ and ex ‘Brookie’ actress turned spin-sister, Billie Clements took to the stage to light the audience touch paper.
Armed with a tool bag of high-energy dance tunes, she had people dancing before they’d had the chance to sit down.
Leanne Campbell appeared and introduced herself as one of tonight’s comperes before presenting two dance groups.
First up were dancers from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA), who performed to a medley of tunes including one from Moulin Rouge. Then, Cody Urban Dance stepped up, who matched the institute’s energy perfectly.
A video featuring Michelle Wright, Head of Care at Zoe’s Place, was played on the big screen as a reminder of what they do and why it matters.
I don’t mind admitting this was a hard watch for me, seeing pictures of the beautiful little faces they had helped over the years.
A night prior to this awesome event, I’d seen a young gentleman online proudly talking about what it means to be Scouse.
I gave him a follow, completely unaware that Joseph Roberts would be reciting his popular ode, Scouse Slang, right in front of me, live at the arena the following night.
Supporting the artists were the divine Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the outstanding Richard Balcombe – they performed Ferry ‘Cross the Mersey beautifully.
Comedian Adam Rowe did a fantastic job as compere, firstly introducing Ian Byrne MP who had been a significant driving force behind the fundraising.
He expressed thanks to the audience for supporting the cause before introducing the first band of the night, The Cheap Thrills, who performed an outstanding cover of The Beatles’ Come Together.
Scottish born (and adopted Scouser) Rianne Downey then appeared on stage singing The Beautiful South’s Rotterdam.
Rowe plugged Downey as the new singer-songwriting talent touring with former Housemartin and now The Beautiful South frontman, Paul Heaton.
Following on from Downey, legendary act The Real Thing were welcomed on stage to perform their international best-selling and UK No. 1 hit, You to Me Are Everything, the audience singing back every single word.
Rowe then introduced Ian Prowse, who gave a powerful rendition of his love letter to Liverpool, Does This Train Stop on Merseyside.
Alternative indie-rock band Red Rum Club followed on, performing a cover of The Beatles’ With a Little Help from My Friends.
The Lightning Seeds graced the audience with three songs, Lucky You, Life of Riley and top-selling hit Pure. The Seeds are due to embark on their 35th anniversary tour this autumn.
The interval featured a DJ set from Jonny Bongo, the main man behind Bongo’s Bingo.
I have to be honest here, I had no clue as to what was happening at this point as I wasn’t familiar with the goings on during a Bongo’s Bingo.
I recall a giant, pink, cuddly unicorn being launched into the crowd by a gentleman wearing a neon green dress, blonde wig and Calvin Kleins, provocatively dancing his way through a DJ set with a flavour of Beyonce sass!
Following on from this madness, comedian Paul Smith opened the second half before the orchestra played the theme from Z-Cars to a mixed chorus of cheers and boos due to its association with Everton.
Circa Waves performed a crowd-pleasing version of The La’s There She Goes before The Zutons took to the stage, indulging the audience to a hit from their recent album, The Big Decider, and, as expected, the much-loved Valerie.
Possibly one of the highlights of the night for me was hearing this beautiful orchestra perform John Lennon’s Imagine, followed by Rebecca Ferguson singing her version of the stunning Jeff Buckley masterpiece, Hallelujah.
Another highlight of the evening was the performance of a gentleman named Brad Kella, who dedicated his piano composition, Eve & Frank, to Liverpool player Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, who recently died in a car crash.
The orchestra playing You’ll Never Walk Alone with a projected image of Jota on the screen had me in bits. The audience then spontaneously burst into the player’s song, a gut-wrenching but beautiful moment in the evening.
Peter Hooton of The Farm entered the stage to perform the classic All Together Now, sounding as vocally flawless as the day the single made its debut in 1991.
Next up was The Mighty WAH!’s Pete Wylie, accompanied by daughter Mersey, performing an emotional version of Heart As Big As Liverpool, while adorning the words ‘choose love’.
I would say the most anticipated appearance of the night was that of Echo & the Bunnymen legend Ian McCulloch who, accompanied by the outstanding Jamie Webster, sang Nothing Lasts Forever.
Rowe followed on from the dynamic duo to introduce a teaser video which would later reveal the new name for Liverpool Zoe’s Place, Little Lights.
Another highlight was the introduction of the awesome choir, Sense of Sound, who supported Rebecca Ferguson with smiles so infectious that their tangible energy transmitted to the arena.
Actor James Nelson-Joyce appeared to introduce the people’s poet, Jamie Webster, who lovingly led the audience through The Beatles hit All You Need Is Love, followed by his musical eulogy to Liverpool, This Place.
Finally, the show closed with an incredible rendition of Hey Jude, all performers returning to the stage sing out the remainder of the night with the audience.
This event will stay with me for a very long time. I’m not from Liverpool, but each time I visit this wonderful city, I feel welcomed and embraced by a group of people who are renowned for their relentless sense of pride and passion, not just for football, but for their local community and their unique cultural identity.
Webster said: “When we don’t have the support from where it should come from, sometimes we just need to look after ourselves”.
Liverpool certainly does know how to look after its own, which is what I find so admirable. It was a real privilege to be part of something so special.
So much so, this Stokie is ‘going to raise a glass to THIS PLACE’.
You can find out more about Zoe’s Place (now Little Lights) here.
Mersey Music 