WATCH: ADRIAN BELEW POWER TRIO INTERVIEW

ADRIAN BELEW POWER TRIO at Bird’s Basement. June 13, 2017: Gig report and Video interview
Interview by Greg Phillips. Photos and video assistance by Jason Rosewarne

GIG REPORT: Space punk, Alien power pop … call it what you want but The Adrian Belew Power Trio is a hell of a lot of fun as they proved last night at the first of a six night residency at Melbourne’s Bird’s Basement. Taking the philosophy of his innovative music playing app Flux to the stage, Belew and crew play complete songs, snippets of songs and there’s much happening on a sensory level in between songs too, so that there’s never a dull moment. Belew delves into a career catalogue spanning four decades, including a large slice of material that he penned for King Crimson and a brief homage to David Bowie. His stage accomplices Julie Slick on bass and drummer Tobias Ralph complement Belew’s musical vision perfectly as they not only follow and support but constantly add their own ingenious footprint to the project. Adrian Belew is one of the world’s truly inventive and accomplished guitarists and it’s obvious why such legendary artists as Bowie, Zappa and David Byrne have sought his idiosyncractic talent to add spark to their own creative process. The Adrian Belew Power Trio offers everything that a night of rockin’ live music should; it’s fun, punchy, vibrant and unpredictable. Catch them every night at Bird’s Basement through to Sunday June 18. They’re recording too so make some noise!

INTERVIEW: Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips had the pleasure of chatting with Adrian yesterday prior to the show. In the interview Adrian discusses playing with his power trio, David Bowie, the new app Flux, his stage gear and a brand new project called Gizmodrome with Mark King and Stewart Copeland.