Politely standing, glasses of wine in hand in the Rye Art Gallery we knew we were in for something surprising as a figure in shades, a cavalry jacket, bandages around his head and carrying a suitcase, headed through to the upper gallery lit by swirling projected images.
This was Adam Sindall, the frontman of Jackdaw with Crowbar, a multi-media band formed in 1985 in Leamington Spa by Timothy Ellis and who, along with percussionist Aitch Bembridge, the drummer for 2 Tone Records band The Selecter, and visual artist Paulina Kalwarska, are the present-day line-up.
To the rhythms of electronic dance music, the heavy bass of dub and ska, and driving angry guitar, Adam jumped, danced, prowled and writhed on the floor, changing costumes between songs, slightly shambolically. Nigel Farage and Trump masks made an appearance along with the Union Jack and St George’s cross, politics shot through with humour and drama. It was surreal and theatrical with a maniacal air of chaos and mayhem; the audience watched, not knowing what to expect next. But funny too. Rolling on the floor, grappling with a string of bunting, ribbons and random objects, pulled from a suitcase, the music stopped and Adam asked if anyone had seen his sunglasses that had flung off – the banal cutting through the lunacy.
Views of the audience were projected onto paper and were drawn by artist Paulina Kalwarska who captured their character and poses in charcoal as the music played.
With Adam in a gold lame outfit and Godzilla mask, brandishing and thrusting with a Dr Stangelove-like bomb, the show ended – the audience thrilled by the grooves, the spectacle and grinning from ear to ear.
Image Credits: Juliet Duff .