The hush-hush Secret World Premier showcase of Courtney Barnett’s hot debut “Sometimes I Sit And Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit”. Courtney Barnett’s fellow stablemate on Milk Records, Fraser A Gorman and his band warm up tonight’s stage. Looking every bit like a young electric Bob Dylan, Fraser belts out a short but entertaining set, previewing tracks from his as yet unreleased debut album ‘Slow Gun’
The main event, however, is of course Courtney Barnett. Tonight she and band are a threesome, with the added Drones’ guitarist Dan Luscombe (who guested on the album sessions) in the audience but notably absent on stage. No worries here though. Barnett does an admirable job of exerting her presence on her two left-handed guitars: a lovely white Jaguar and her trusty black Telecaster.
From the outset, Courtney’s charm is obvious. For my money, the potent combination of her stage persona and delivery puts her somewhere between a self-assured young Chrissie Hynde and the witty lyricism of Elvis Costello. Every track is generously peppered with little everyday observations – every detail is deftly distilled.
Witness the first track of the evening ‘Elevator Operator’.
She rattles through the album in track order, stopping only briefly to remark, ‘ this is fun …but it’s weird…I’m not gonna lie…I’m nervous and excited at the same time…” and then later, “Dad says he likes ‘Pedestrian at Best’ but reckons it’s a bit too ‘yelly’.
She then breaks into what is to be my favourite song of the evening, “Dead Fox” featuring a brilliant lyric inspired by the visibility signs on Lindsay Fox trucks, with the catchy chorus “If you can’t see me, I can’t see you”.
Another memorable track of the evening is “Depreston”, a song already released and currently trending on social media. It’s essentially the story of Courtney house-hunting and seeing some potential in a deceased estate. The catchy hook: “If you’ve got a spare half a million, you could knock it down and start re-building” still had us singing it on the way back to the station to catch the last train home.
Tonight’s showcase aptly demonstrates that Courtney is well into her own journey. Ever questing, ever exploring. In fact on the track ‘Small Poppies’ she sings almost auto-biographically: “I don’t know quite who I am, oh but man I am trying. I make mistakes until I get it right.”
The Fat Angel Sings 