Barry Adamson – Live, Edinburgh Voodoo Rooms, Tuesday 1st April 2008
Barry Adamson is nine albums into a lengthy career that has included collaboration with such luminaries as Nick Cave, David Lynch and Howard Devoto. He’s written soundtracks, made records, and god knows what else, but I read in The List that this is his first tour? First?? Bugger me!
It was pricey, I have to be honest, and nineteen quid was too much for what we saw. I love some of Adamson’s stuff, but he is a little patchy. King of Nothing Hill really wasn’t a very good album – all the venom and menace neutered – and I have heard that the new one isn’t very good either, although I have yet to listen to it enough to form my own opinion. That said, he has at least three brilliant albums to his name, and when his particular brand of cinematic jazz noir is good, it is truly brilliant, so I thought why not chance it.
In the end, I really enjoyed myself, but I wouldn’t say I was in raptures. It’s completely unfair to judge someone on the strength of their first tour, especially someone so trepidatious that they wait this long to pop the cherry, so I think some leeway is called for in evaluating this gig. In the end, though, I think the live show was just a little loungey, which kind of stripped the music of some of the slightly theatrical malevolence which it oozes in recorded form.
Ultimately, Adamson’s music is pretty experimental most of the time and, despite the evident proficiency of the band, it ended up slightly anaesthetised. It was a bit like watching an action movie with no swearing, in some ways, because I knew the attitude was in there somewhere. This all makes it sound like I had a bad gig, which I didn’t. I enjoyed myself, and I really enjoyed the show, it’s just that I know there’s more and I ended up trying not to spend most of the evening waiting for it.
Barry Adamson – Jazz Devil
Barry Adamson – Deja Voodoo
Barry Adamson – My Friend the Fly
First tour? Eh? Seems a bit odd to me too. I loved Moss Side Story – think that’s the benchmark for me.
Any chance of posting the James Bond one?
Oh, that’s fucking brilliant! Here it is, seeing as you asked so charmingly…!
“In case there’s trouble or we’re under attack,
never fear, because Bond is black.”
What a gentleman you are, Matthew. Much appreciated.
PS we’re in elbow sync – saw ‘em last night, came home reeling – in the best of ways, of course. They’re proof that big sounds and big ideas don’t have to be remote or bombastic. As Guy Garvey said, magic.
Phantasy Bond Theme is a masterpirece. Never fails to make me smile.
Well he has a lot of truly brilliant songs. Trouble is, he lapses into the unremarkable from time to time, so you never quite know what you’re going to get.