Pat Metheny’s return to the Barbican Centre, the first of two performances, spoke about an artist whose work has shaped modern jazz and jazz guitar artistry for half a century.
At 71, he is still very much a musician in motion, and the Side-Eye III+ band demonstrates precisely why: pairing his vast catalogue with younger, sharp-eared players who bring fresh energy to material spanning from Bright Size Life (1976) to his new 2026 release, Side-Eye III+.
The atmosphere before Metheny’s first note was one of genuine anticipation, and by the end – four encores later – it was clear that the master plectrist delivered a performance that was generous and brimming with his trademark virtuosity.
You could say that the Side-Eye project has always been Metheny’s laboratory for renewal, a rotating ensemble designed to bring emerging musicians into close orbit with his vast musical world. This latest iteration – Chris Fishman on piano, organ and keys; Jermaine Paul on acoustic and electric bass; Joe Dyson on drums; and Leonard Patton on vocals and percussion – is perhaps the most balanced yet.
The combination of youth and experience was palpable: Metheny’s deep harmonic language and rhythmic sophistication met players who were not intimidated by the legacy but were wondrously energised by it all.
The concert opened with In On It, one of the new Side-Eye pieces appearing on Side-Eye III+. It set the tone immediately: high-octane, crisp, rhythmically intricate and delivered with a kind of collective alertness that made the Barbican feel almost like a studio session.
From there, Metheny reached back to his highly acclaimed debut, Bright Size Life, the title track from his 1976 debut, still astonishing in its clarity and bluesy melodic poise. Hearing it played by a guitarist with fifty years of accumulated experience was moving; the tune’s youthful optimism now carried a deeper resonance.
The setlist became a journey through Metheny’s creative life. Better Days Ahead (a Pat Metheny Group staple from the 1980s) reminded the audience of the Group’s rhythmic daring and harmonic warmth. First Circle, the title track from the 1984 album of the same name, was delivered with precision and exuberance – Dyson’s drumming giving the piece a contemporary edge without losing its original architecture.
Metheny’s affection for his past collaborators was also in evidence. The Red One, from the 1994 album I Can See Your House from Here with John Scofield, carried a swagger that Fishman and Paul amplified beautifully. Timeline (from Michael Brecker’s 1999 album Time Is of the Essence) was grounded in the rhythmic intelligence Brecker himself admired in Metheny.
The Side-Eye originals, Make a New World, Don’t Look Down, Urban and Western, and the luminous Zenith Blue, from Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV), showed Metheny’s consistent knack for writing strikingly melodic tunes that linger long in the ear. Fishman’s keyboard work was especially compelling here: shimmering organ pads, angular synth lines, and piano voicings that threaded through Metheny’s guitar in unexpected ways. Jermaine Paul’s bass playing was warm, centred, and quietly authoritative; he gave the band a foundation that allowed Metheny to roam freely. Joe Dyson, with his New Orleans drumming lineage, brought a crisp, modern pulse – his cymbal work on Phase Dance (from the 1978 Pat Metheny Group debut) was a highlight. Leonard Patton’s contribution, though subtle, was warmly received: vocal textures, percussive colour, and a presence that expanded the emotional range of the ensemble.
One of the evening’s most notable moments came during the first encore. Metheny played America the Beautiful with a few deliberately bent and discordant notes hinting at the unsettled state of the American polity. It was an unspoken and pointed gesture, the sort of thing the late politically engaged bassist Charlie Haden, another of Metheny’s best known collaborators, might have done. The piece flowed into Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, then into Last Train Home from Still Life (Talking), the familiar melody glowing with renewed warmth.
The encores kept coming in a near athletic display of giving back to an audience who seemed to want more and more. The sweeping medley of Minuano (Six Eight), As It Is, James, September Fifteenth, This Is Not America, and Antonia – a compressed history of Metheny’s superb writing from the 1980s through the 2000s – was pure magic. Are You Going With Me?, from Offramp (1982), was delivered with cinematic intensity. Song for Bilbao, first heard on Travels (1983), was rapturously received.
Side-Eye III+ live demonstrated how twenty-time Grammy Award winner Pat Metheny’s writing continues to adapt when placed in the hands of younger musicians who bring new detail and urgency to long-established repertoire.
An unforgettable performance.
