Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is something about the dreaming spires of Oxford that can sometimes bring out the very best and noble intentions in a musician.

For the musician that hails from Liverpool, The Mersey can be a constant source of inspiration and intrigue. The way it feeds into the local psyche is nothing short of admirable, the same can be said for the city of Oxford, its river, the Isis as it is known locally may not be as world renowned but it also carries the dreams of all those that enter the city’s safety.

For Adam Barnes, the young singer songwriter from those parts, such must be held true for him also. As he stepped on the stage at Leaf, armed with his guitar, a wonderful backing keyboard player by the name of James Walker and a voice that was a cross between one of the seraphim’s that clutter some of the ancient colleges of the city and a man possessed with great ability, the audience realised that the night of music that had started so superbly with Ragz was set to continue well into the night.

Adam Opened with the quite symbolic 3 am, a lovely piece that a great many people who were immediately smitten with his soft Oxfordshire accent would immediately identify with. He followed it up with songs such as She Will Stay beneath the Moon, Lighthouse and Apple.

Defying custom is an art form in its self and Adam did the notion of well-placed and gracious defiance by stepping onto the wooden floorboards of Leaf and at eye level to the crowd continued sweetly to serenade the crowd with his final song of the night, the beautiful Green.

He may have travelled a long way, perhaps not as long as the two other musicians on the bill that night, but Adam Barnes went down so well with the spectators that he must have realised he would be welcome back in this city again.

Ian D. Hall