Barry Adamson probably isn’t a household name in Australia. The ones that spend a few years alongside Nick Cave in one of his many projects usually aren’t. But whether the crowd know of his greatness from The Birthday Party, The Bad Seeds or his successful solo career, the badass bassist more than earns the spotlight.
It’s always cool seeing a female drummer sit front and centre, leading the vocals, as is the case with support act The Dames. But they seem a jarring choice considering the energetic set that follows them.
Unfortunately, the two middle-aged Aussie musos and their backing band play a set full of the same basic rock beat and keyboard riff, not quite prepping the crowd for the main attraction.
As The Dames file off, a pack of what can only be assumed are Adamson faithfuls swarm to the foot of the stage. The rest of the crowd – mainly 40 plus, swilling Coopers stubbies and shiraz – look excited, too, but it’s the diehards soft-moshing to the between-set jazz recordings who really make Adamson’s presence seem legendary.
A little background on Bazza. Born in Manchester, Adamson hit the punk-rock scene as bassist for Magazine in the 70s. In the 80s he joined Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds for three albums and jammed with The Birthday Party.
Since then, his Motown/Bowie/Alice Cooper influences have moulded a solo career of jazz, electronica, funk, soul and dub. The guy has pretty much done it all.
A career that colourful could be difficult to condense into a 90 minute set. Somehow, Adamson manages to cover all bases (pardon the pun) without offering the audience a disjointed or haphazard collection of tracks.
It all kicks off with “Get Your Mind Right”, which combines classic rock guitar solos and bass with electronica beats slipped underneath. Bizarre, but it works – a sentiment that pretty much sums up Adamson’s performance.
He takes a risk by encouraging a crowd sing along to a new release second song in. It kind of flops, but the heavy bass line is seductive and you can tell the crowd will add it to their list of Adamson favourites – once they learn they words.
Seamless transitions into from synth-infused pop-rock to jazz to funk and back again are a credit to Adamson’s skill as a musician.
There are times where the unmistakable influence of Nick Cave is felt. The shadowy crescendo of “Mr E” harks back to early Bad Seeds, a la “The Mercy Seat”. The audience is drawn in through a molasses-like bass riff, left reeling after a frenzied instrumental explosion before being soothed to a lower heart rate by Adamson’s voice and the whisper of the guitar.
Unlike Cave, any darkness that Adamson channels during a song is quickly countered with a deep chuckle at its end. Then the tambourine begins, and the bouncy piano and the audience buoys as they recognise “Straight til Sunrise” – a favourite from his Back To The Cat album.
The crowd rarely seems disinterested but Adamson doesn’t abuse his niche success by leaving out popular tracks or trying anything too fancy. The faux finale is a cover of “Lady Marmalade” (a little too karaoke) before an encore performance of the sultry “Jazz Devil”.
It’s the perfect note to leave on and the audience, along with the star himself, seem truly satisfied. A treat of a show, whatever the side of Barry Adamson’s personality you worship.
– Alice Eastman
