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David August – Solo Piano

Italian German producer and composer David August returns to the Barbican for a rare live piano performance, presenting music from new album HYMNS alongside other material.   

With HYMNS, August unveils a new and deeply personal body of work that strips away the expansive electronic architectures that has defined much of his work as the focus shifts to something more direct and intimate. Written, improvised and recorded in 2021, the album marks a shift toward a more exposed musical language, one that preceded August’s 2023 Barbican performance of his previous album VĪS.

For this special solo appearance, the concert unfolds as a sequence of prepared piano improvisations shaped by live processing, evolving soundscapes and silence. The performance offers a rare opportunity to encounter August’s music in its most essential form, revealing the core sensibilities that underpin his work across both electronic and acoustic worlds.

Produced by the Barbican in association with Dollop

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Djrum

British producer Djrum presents a special live set at the Barbican in summer 2026. Drawn from his Djrum: Improvised Live project, this Barbican debut will blend improvised instrumentation and found objects with new material and reimagined catalogue pieces.

Djrum’s music is driven by experimentation. His in-demand DJ sets distil instinct into quick, bold shifts and a blend of genres that form distinctive and immersive soundscapes. In the Barbican Hall, he brings a live set shaped by the concept of Djrum: Improvised Live – a practice of arriving at a venue with tools and components, foraging local materials, and building bespoke instruments on site. The result is a hybrid sound world where electronic textures and acoustic resonance meet in unpredictable, tactile ways.

Past iterations of the project at Waking Life Festival and Berlin Atonal have seen him craft stringed instruments, gong trees, and percussive sculptures from quartz, cork bark and forest fins in Portugal, while assembling post-industrial sound objects from metal stair sections, concrete blocks and timber in the Kraftwerk space. 

Revisiting highlights from recent improvised sets alongside new compositions and fresh improvisations created especially for the Hall, Djrum will also rework renditions of familiar catalogue pieces. Audiences can expect a performance rooted in experimentation, craft and a two-way conversation between electronic and acoustic worlds.

Produced by the Barbican

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John Waters Live!!!

Legendary filmmaker and writer John Waters takes to stage with "John Waters Live!!!”, a whole new radical comedy revival show at the Barbican in 2027.

Dressed to thrill, Waters is ready to rant about pro-punk conversion therapy, right-wing female female impersonators, extreme amusement parks, even prank guerrilla placement of phony incendiary book titles in libraries that recently banned gay children’s classics.

Waters is a cult figure known for his bold, brash and hilarious work, favouring the queer, the outcast and the ‘joyously filthy.’ Best known for his transgressive midnight movies (Pink Flamingos, 1972) to his Hollywood successes (Hairspray, 1988), he has shaped independent cinema for over six decades. Expect a gleefully sleazy sermon that will beg the authorities to drop a net on both himself and his rabidly insane audience.

Produced by the Barbican

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SUPPORT ACT AND EXTRA DATE ANNOUNCED

Aldous Harding

+ Vera Ellen

Following the announcement of her fifth studio album Train On The Island (4AD, 8 May 2026), acclaimed New Zealand singer-songwriter Aldous Harding returns to the Barbican in 2026 for a short residency as part of her upcoming UK tour. Appearing alongside her band, Harding will perform material from her new album as well as drawing on her celebrated catalogue of work.

Due to popular demand, Harding also adds third Barbican date to her UK 2026 tour and unveils Wellington-based artist Vera Ellen as support act. With two Barbican shows already sold-out, Ellen will join Harding across all three nights in the Hall.  

Aldous Harding is a rare visionary who defies genre and tradition, creating a goth and off-kilter folk sound that sets her apart. Both avant-garde and widely admired, her distinctive songwriting and mesmerising live performances have seen her sell out tours around the world.

Support for the evening comers from singer-songwriter Vera Ellen. Vera Ellen is a rising star in Aotearoa’s indie-rockscape with a prolific catalogue described as “Totally in-keeping with her label Flying Nun’s famous output” by Loud and Quiet. Named ‘Best Alternative Artist’ at the 2022 Aotearoa Music Awards, Ellen released her second album with Flying Nun Records, ‘Ideal Home Noise’, in March 2023 to wide critical acclaim.

Following years of extensive international touring including two sold-out Barbican shows in 2023, these upcoming performances offer audiences a rare opportunity to experience Harding’s unique artistry across three nights at an iconic London music venue. 

Produced by the Barbican in association with Bird on the Wire.

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