As one of Melbourne’s favourite artists, it’s been a while between drinks for Courtney Barnett fans to catch a headline show of hers.
So it’s no surprise that even though she was billed to play just 40 minutes, this label showcase party (22 December) sold out fast.It was also a perfect time to showcase Milk! Records artists, with Loose Tooth, Hachiku and Jade Imagine rounding out the bill. And pleasingly there was a big crowd down early, and not surprisingly plenty of buzz around Jade Imagine – who will be one to watch in 2020.
But there was no hiding the fact that the headliner was the star attraction, and Barnett hit the stage with a bang launching into ‘City Looks Pretty’ from 2018’s ‘Tell Me How You Really Feel’.
That record got a workout, with Barnett playing a visceral, howling rock & roll take on ‘I’m Not Your Mother, I’m Not Your Bitch’ and, of course, standout single ‘Nameless, Faceless’, which famously references Margaret Atwood and focuses on violence towards women, something certainly not lost on a crowd in Melbourne’s northern suburbs that has and continues to be a difficult place for this.
Barnett on record is fantastic, but live she and band are a whole, other beast. At once tight and free-wheeling, the dimension added to the recorded songs is something to savour.
Perhaps the most poignant moment, though, is the mid-set rendition of ‘Depreston’, a song about a suburb or two away from this show at Northcote and a sentiment not lost on a generation that can’t afford property.
While ‘Depreston’ may have been the highlight of the night, a surprise standout was Barnett, band and backing singers doing a gorgeous rendition of Leonard Cohen’s ‘So Long, Marianne’, a very fitting holiday tune in the style of Milk! Records.
And few gathered could ask for more, except 20 more songs from one of the country’s greatest performers.
