TW Classic | Courtney Barnett’s show was partly lost to the masses

Courtney Barnett started her set like a breeze on the much too big main stage for her, although she did a pleasant mess at the end of her set. That’s the downside of a double booking with Pregnant Guy demolishing The Barn at the same time.

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The Australian singer-songwriter’s latest album is an understated break-up record that followed the split with songwriter Jen Cloher – just read the lyrics to ‘Before you gotta go’. Barnett realized that her mellow new songs would mostly blow away on the plains before the Main Stage, so she did well to focus mainly on the more rocking material from her excellent debut album Sometimes I sit and think, and sometimes I just sit.

A standout behind her was Stella Mozgawa in a bright red jumpsuit. The Warpaint drummer co-wrote and produced Barnett’s latest album, where she traded her drumsticks for synthesizer and tambourine. She was especially audible in the new work, with a modest synth solo in ‘Depreston’. In 2018, that was an extremely foldable highlight when she closed the edition of the Sonic City festival in Kortrijk, which she curated, at Werchter.

That’s the main criticism of this show, although Barnett probably wouldn’t have chosen her spot on the Main Stage. Especially the start of her show, in which almost every song fanned out in a jam, was lost for the masses. A throwback to her five-year collaboration with supreme slacker Kurt Vile? Then the sturdier finale with oldies ‘History eraser’, ‘Pedestrian at best’ and ‘Nobody really cares if you don’t go to the party’ in which she still managed to make the front rows bounce. We have unfortunately already forgotten about the closing ‘Write a list of things to look forward to’. As an answer to that question, the signs in the front rows mainly read The Smile and Nick Cave.

Courtney Barnett, seen at TW Classic on June 25, 2022

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