Photos By: Summer Luu
By: Amanda Martinek
The witty, cute-as-a-button Australian rock ‘n’ roll songwriter Courtney Barnett packed the Casbah earlier this week with a sold-out show that brought out fans as far as Utah and Arizona to witness her magic.
The show started with a different Aussie singer songwriter strumming his rustic guitar and telling long and witty tales of getting shot at while on a Greyhound bus and brushing elbows (literally) with Hollywood actresses. Darren Hanlan loosened up the crowd with jokes like “If I had a dollar for every time someone owed me one, I’d be paid.”
Next up was Seattle based riot grrrl band Chasity Belt, comprised of four girls, who started their set with the quip, “We’re a band of four girls.” They spoke softly and giggled coyly at subtleties I couldn’t quite hear but wish I had. Their music made me feel moody yet empowered and made me want to be their close friend.
Finally, Courtney struck the stage like lightning with fast and electric power. Her tough Doc Marten boots and shaggy hair stomped and shook around as she played tracks off her debut 2015 album Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit, as well as favorites off last year’s The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas. Moving quickly through the set, she finally stopped to awkwardly say hello to the crowd, smiling shyly and radiating an energy that seemed to say the whole thing was funny.
The crowd had a sing-a-long, as Courtney spouted off her batch of clever, punny lyrics that made us all fall in love with her in the first place. Coming back on stage well after midnight for an encore, she played a sad cover song from a fellow Australian band and finished with the well-liked tune “History Eraser”. The crowd went mad with awe and appreciation after every track, knowing we witnessed something genius and beautiful. Thanks Courtney, please come back again soon.