Courtney Barnett at SXSW review – venue strips the music's magic

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/21/courtney-barnett-sxsw-review

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There are some venues that should just never host live music – the kinds of rooms where even a rock opera starring Prince, Dolly Parton and Kanye West would sound deflated. Austin Convention Centre Ballroom D is such a place. It’s where atmosphere goes to die, but, unfortunately, it is also the stage hosting Aussie singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett for her final set of SXSW this year.

Barnett’s brand of articulate, self-deprecating guitar music falls somewhere between indie rock and folk with a sprinkling of country, and she started generating buzz back in 2013 following the release of her double EP, A Sea of Split Peas. The 25-year-old’s laid-back slacker lyrics recounting her refusal to take a nine-to-five job, get out of bed or stop doing stupid things when she’s drunk are exactly the kind of music you hope to stumble upon in a dingy dive bar, which makes the gig’s soulless setting even more jarring.

There is no doubt that Barnett has a very charismatic stage presence and, live, her vocals have more than a touch of Chrissie Hynde. However, it’s not enough to prevent the more melancholy songs in the set, such as the wistful An Illustration of Loneliness (Sleepless in New York), from falling flat.

The show picks up more energy as Barnett and her band play Dead Fox, a song powered by great guitar riffs. The dry humour that characterises much of her songwriting also comes through as she introduces her song Nobody Really Cares if You Don’t Come to the Party. “Which is true sometimes, but sometimes people really do care” she adds with a wry smile.

The best part of the set comes with her performance of Avant Gardener, which unfolds with a pensive stream of consciousness worthy of early Bob Dylan. It’s a funny and tightly performed track, and with lines such as “I guess the neighbours must think we run a meth lab”, it momentarily overcomes the deadening vibe.

Barnett finishes with History Eraser, the first single from her second EP. Live, it has a grungier sound, and as the Aussie songstress recalls a surreal dream filled with casinos, sweet vermouth and angry footballers, you can’t help but feel this finale set did not do justice to one of this year’s most promising and acerbic songwriters.