I shamefully managed to turn up slightly late for the show this evening. I missed the first few songs but the moment the door was pushed open my embarrassed panic was gone. Adam Torres’ music manages to have a moment with you personally, you can drift off and it’ll seem like you’re the only person in the room. Given the way the audience was standing, I don’t think I’m the only one that had this experience. What was even more surreal was having this moment of being taken away to then realise the room you’re actually standing in. It’s a clichéd brush to paint folk music with but it certainly applies. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’d see Adam Torres sitting on the stump on a 19th century tree or anything. Seeing him in a dark boxed room almost seems wrong. However the space doesn’t really matter, no one is paying attention to these details.

The sparse sound of the music tonight makes every detail and ambience come through. On songs where it’s just Adam singing and playing you can hear slight crackles in the electronics. It creates that same warmth that would come off an old vinyl record, the slight imperfections make it seem more real and bring a certain warmth to the sound. I think that’s why Adam Torres is so captivating to watch live. There isn’t any real performance element to the show, nor should there be. His music is honest, any flair comes from the emotion created through the sound, it doesn’t come from dramatics or showboating.

The minimal setup leaves so much space in the music, which makes it all the more breathtaking. It relies on the audience being completely silent and truly engaging with the music. Percussion is provided by ex-Swans member Thor Harris and strings by Aisha Burns. The violin adds some romanticism and Burns has such gentle and precise skill it never overpowers the other elements, it’s brilliant attention to detail which keeps everything exact and in balance. All three musicians are in perfect sync with each other. Considering how gentle the music is, the balance they keep is crucial. The percussion adds the sounds you associate with the desert: surroundings that would’ve encompassed Torres who grew up in New Mexico.

The set-list is predominantly cuts of his 2016 album Pearls to Swine. There’s certainly a stark contrast between his recorded music and seeing him live. It’s almost inexplicable, there aren’t any new sonic elements added to the mix, in fact there are less. It’s the way it’s brought to life in front of you and there’s more passion in the music, everything seems more elevated. Maybe it’s the subtleties that become more obvious when you see them live. Adam’s guitar playing, for instance, is incredibly fluid to the point where the technique behind it isn’t immediately clear on the album.

Tonight was something unexpected and very enjoyable. Adam Torres manages to let his music be his performance and it makes for a very powerful show. With his minimal yet brilliant backing band he takes his songs beyond what you hear on the albums and turns them into a beautiful live experience. I’d recommend seeing Adam to anyone, his music is certainly outside my own personal tastes but it’s undoubtedly fantastic and anyone can make room for it.

Chris Middleton

 

 

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