Live Review: Courtney Barnett, Teeth & Tongue, The Finks

Opening band The Finks are a relaxed beginning to the night. The duo, who play guitar and cello, present their pleasant (but with a dash of melancholy) pop-folk tracks to the slowly swelling crowd. 

Teeth & Tongue’s lead singer Jess Cornelius comes out on stage and greets the audience: “We’re Teeth & Tongue. It’s Saturday night. Let’s have a good time.” Cornelius is a smart and engaging performer, talking easily with the crowd and sharing anecdotes about her songs. Tracks such as Good Man and Newborn get the crowd dancing. 

Courtney Barnett takes the stage alone and launches into the first verse of Canned Tomatoes (Whole). Drummer Dave Mudie and bassist Bones Sloane join her on stage midway through with Sloane bringing the tune’s thumping bassline with him. Throughout the performance, Barnett is funny in her interactions with the crowd and slips in her trademark nonchalance at every opportunity. At one stage she gently tells a shouting fan, “I’m sorry, I can’t hear you. And I don’t really care”. The visuals are intricate and Where The Wild Things Are-inspired. At one point, a fan throws an envelope onstage with a gift for Barnett. The gift, which is apparently a “tiny ant scarf” impels a clearly touched Barnett to remark, “I’m going to dedicate Depreston just to you”. Barnett and the band joke throughout the set about making songs up on the spot. Avant Gardener is introduced as an ode to hard rubbish collection in Northcote and Thornbury. She then does a community service announcement, reminding the crowd that the collection is in the coming week. The final song of the main set is Pedestrian At Best; the rendition is grungy, low-fi, angry and glorious. 

The encore sees Barnett return solo with a cover of The Lemonheads’ Being Around. It might have been the happy memories of her duet with Evan Dando at Meredith 2014, or the fact that it’s just a beautiful moment, but mid-way through the song those with lighters get them in the air, which causes Barnett to deadpan, “What, no iPhones?” Mudie comes back out for Pickles From The Jar and Sloane returns for the final song History Eraser. For the final of three sold-out Melbourne shows, the hometown crowd is expectant and Barnett doesn’t disappoint.