This concert was truly the niche of the niche: McBride and Meyer are two of the world’s leading players of the double-bass, multiple award-winners both. They appeared at Komedia without a backing band for a kind of double-bass double-team. While a concert of standalone bass-duets definitely seems odd, in the event they did not disappoint and delivered a musically inspiring performance.

Not bothering with supports, McBride and Meyer went straight into it; a few minutes into their set, it was obvious that anybody opening for them would have paled in comparison. They maintained a subdued atmosphere, but it may have been more that they didn’t need volume; they played quietly, but it only made the audience lean closer in. Nobody breathed a word for the whole hour and a half concert – except perhaps the occasional ‘wow’.

Both musicians were very expansive; they covered every spot on the necks of their instruments, moved between the bass and keys to break up the performance, and ranged widely through the genres. The music they played was definitely jazzy at its core, but more generally defied classification. Technically they were mind-blowing, literally pushing the boundaries of what a double bass can do, with some liberally roaming improvisation and runaway rhythm displacement; to say their playing was far out, would be putting it lightly.

McBride’s finger work was stunning, while Meyer was particularly good at dissonant slides. They were able to move between moods with ease, taking a gut-wrenching melody and turning it on its head in a moment to bring a smile to the audience’s lips. Their total control over their instruments and the audience ultimately stemmed from their very communicative back and forth; although both were apparently men of few words, they seemed to know exactly what the other was thinking.

Their songs could either slap you round the ear, or subtly nestle into it. Occasionally the barest hint of traditional basslines would creep in as one player improvised over the other, but on the whole they were in uncharted territory, dipping into blues, funk, and bluegrass, but never committing to any. This was the really striking part of their performance: that they touched on everything while maintaining a base musicality that was both formless and awe-inspiring.

The full duration of their time on stage was utterly engrossing. By 9:30 it was over, and the crowd filtered out with a stunned look on their faces. Honorable mention goes to Komedia for hosting a night with such an early finish; they almost certainly lost money, but won the hearts of a minority of devotees and allowed an extraordinary musical event to occur, of a calibre which probably won’t be seen again in Brighton soon.
Ben Noble