Bristol
22 May 2024
The cachet of Bristol’s Strange Brew must be rising as they had the privilege of putting on the opening night of Barry Adamson‘s latest tour.
It is a cool venue, with an interesting layout, well lit and small enough to be intimate. This suited Barry’s opening act, Nadine Khouri, a Lebanese singer whose smiling diffidence and shy charm won over the audience. Her twangy Les Paul trembled with reverb as her half-spoken/half-sung delivery unfolded heartfelt tales. The blunt, buttery chords seemed to be extruded from the guitar as it spiralled and spluttered, melodies hidden under a ghostly, echoing quaver.
Considering Barry Adamson’s stature as a recording artist and the length of his career, I was expecting more than the 130-140 crowd awaiting him, but he appeared rather pleased, joking that he was told only ten people were coming anyway. With a stripped-back line-up of Ian Ross on bass (I figured there must be a lot to live up to being Barry Adamson’s bass player, but he was absolutely great) and Kaja Magsam on drums, Barry cut a charismatic figure, all in black with a brown Stetson and graded shades.
Bursting in with “These Would Be Blues” from the new album, the noir-ish blues-y soul of Cut To Black came across really well. The deep resonant bass, the rattling drums and his mellow Nick Cave-like tenor, though his delivery is more avuncular, telling a tale and passing on wisdom at the same time. I must admit, I was expecting more of the soundtrack stuff, so to see him front and centre, really living the songs and acting the parts was quite a revelation with his lovely black and white Airline guitar part of the scene. In front of him was a small electronic device which contained backing elements, but really it was about the interaction of the trio that made the show pop.The half-spoken “Cut To Black” was sinuous and smooth, but such were his exertions, he needed water after two songs. The guitar shimmered like aluminium sheeting on “Demon Lover” and he was clearly enjoying the words, savouring and fitting them around the different voices. The songs feel different to on the album, with a vibrancy that suited the dirty NY beats of “Manhattan Satin” and the stripped noir jazz of “The Beaten Side Of Town” with its Duane Eddy in excelsis guitar salvoes
Giving the other two a few moments’ respite, he picked up an acoustic guitar, sat down and ran through the train blues “Sundown County”, which morphed in to “Hot Love”. Going out to “those feeling stuck”, his soulful warmth came through perfectly and he continued on the acoustic for the soulful storm of “Waiting For The End Of Time” and then back to electric with the rhythm section for “The Climber”. Free of the guitar, the backing track gave him liberty to throw shapes, prowling the edge of the stage, his audience interaction completely natural. “Straight Until Sunrise” was a horn-filled soul revue, while the final track had a kind of baggy beat and Hammond gauze that drew things to a suitably vibrant conclusion. Doing the “walk of shame” it was clear that they were going to return, but you could tell he knew the farce had to be played out; so after a few minutes when the dragging, industrial beat of Iggy Pop‘s “Nightclubbing” started up which meant a tongue in cheek, kerb crawling drawl through “Jazz Devil”.He prowled the stage, gesticulating and enunciating, revelling in the dissolute sentiments and electronic sleaze. A real classic to go out on and one that fanned the flames of enjoyment in the room. It was certainly a successful first date and one that will definitely live long on the memory.
-Words: Mr Olivetti-
-Pictures: Michael Rodham-Heaps-
