Barry Adamson at the Brudenell: A Cinematic Night of Intimate Moments and Epic Swing

Written by Joseph Nozedar, edited by Millie Cain.

Barry Adamson is an artist unknown to many, but like in most walks of life, straying away
from the mainstream is where you find hidden gems. For those unaware of Barry Adamson,
he is a multifaceted artist—musician, composer, writer, photographer, and filmmaker.
Raised in Manchester’s Moss Side, he swiftly mastered the bass to join Howard Devoto’s
newly formed post-punk band, Magazine, one of the city’s most influential and artistic
groups of their time. Since his first musical venture with Magazine, Barry has performed
with multiple bands including Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Yet after spending time playing a supporting role for many bands, Adamson has shown that
he possesses the star power to headline, releasing nine studio albums of his own. These
albums focus on incorporating his love of music with his love of film. Most of these albums
are either film scores or have a film score concept behind them, including the 1992 Mercury
Music Prize-nominated Soul Murder, and 1996’s ‘Oedipus Schmoedipus’, featuring
collaborations with Jarvis Cocker, Nick Cave, and Billy McKenzie of The Associates. He has
also written, directed, and scored multiple short films, including ‘Scala!!!’ (2023), ‘Astrakan’
(2022), ‘The Lie’ (2014). As a Film Studies student, this gig was one that I was especially
excited for.

Being a film director Adamson is inept at world-building and the world of Barry Adamson
the one he creates and shares with his audience is one that the Brudenell crowd was more
than happy to enter, temporarily losing themselves in its weird and wonderfulness. It is a
world filled with trembling James Bond chords and finger-clicking swing, heart-aching blues,
and fiendish swaggering. Approaching showtime excitement grew in the small room toward
the entrance of the Brudenell, which always offers a personal intimate setting, with its small
stage, mirror ball, and the luxury of having a separate bar and toilets, it’s a fitting venue for
such a theatrical performance.

Opening his set with the new release would be blues, a moody, atmospheric tune that acted
as the opening credits for the night. Adamson, drummer Kaja Magsam, and bassist Ian Ross
formed a tight-knit three-piece ensemble, able to pull off what could have been huge
orchestral arranged scores with ease. Next came new material, the new album’s title track

‘Cut to Black’, and fan favourite ‘The Beaten Side Of Town’. It became a subjective
soundtrack, a different film playing out in the heads of each member of the Brudenell
crowd.

Set highlights included Adamson silencing the band and switching from electric to
acoustic guitar, announcing that since this is an intimate gig, he’d “do what people do at
intimate gatherings”, before leading the audience in a bluesy singalong of Marc Bolan’s (T.
Rex) ‘Sundown County / Hot Love’. The encore was a particular highlight of mine as
Adamson ignited the venue with a thumping rendition of the epic ‘Jazz Devil’. References to
Beelzebub, Hotel Hades, amidst spy thriller guitar chords and thunderous horns all on top of
a thumping bass line, offering an old-school Sinatra-style swing fit for the piano lounges of
the underworld.

It was a velvety, intimate evening, like stepping off the Hyde Park streets into a fragmented
Tarantino film with its non-linear narrative, seamlessly shifting between scenes and genres.
The performance was a melting pot of Post-punk, Jazz, Noir, and Swing. Each seamlessly,
stitched together by Adamson’s entertaining monologues and impressive wit, comparable
to fellow Mancunian legend John Cooper Clarke. The one thing I was not expecting from
Adamson, was his down-to-earth personality. He does not take himself too seriously, a vital
thing for any creative attempting to put on the ambitious genre-blending, richly artistic
show that Adamson is. An artistic show could potentially verge on becoming pretentious or
even sleazy, but Adamson’s refreshingly grounded personality ensured that this was not the
case.

It was also a much-needed change to hear an album played live that is a pure artistic vision,
unpressured by the demands of an industry, something which I think is increasingly rare in
the modern music landscape. While the show was only a small one, the new album won’t be
smashing any records for sales. It was an innovative, cinematic, and thoroughly enjoyable
evening that offered the kind of escapism that only great Hollywood films do.