Concert review: Courtney Barnett at The Orange Peel
Having now seen Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile individually play The Orange Peel, it makes even more sense why they made an album together.
The quiet energy of that superb collaboration, Lotta Sea Lice (2017), carried over to Vile’s most recent performance at the venue in July 2018, one saturated with top-notch songs and jaw-dropping lead guitar noodling — but one that probably should have been a seated show. The singer/songwriter’s music rarely inspires movement that qualifies as dancing, and that night he barely exceeded tempos and intensities that conjured more than steady head-nodding and white millennial shuffling.
Despite a catalog with such ripping punky anthems as “Charity” — which sadly didn’t make an appearance — the same proved true for Barnett on Monday, Jan. 31. Sticking with the setlist that the Tasmanian rocker and her tight three-piece backing band have shared throughout the final leg of their U.S. tour, Barnett adhered to the more chill cuts from her catalog, making room for a few moments that crossed the line into truly upbeat territory, but also might have been better off stipulating mandatory chairs from which attendees could politely bop.
The pleasantly subdued pep makes sense, seeing as nearly half of the night’s songs were plucked from the artist’s excellent yet relaxed late 2021 release, Things Take Time, Take Time, but still allowed for plenty of moments for Barnett to showcase her distinct pick-less strumming skills. While her instrumentation paired nicely with the stylings of Bones Sloane (bass), Dave Mudie (drums), and Warpaint drummer Stella Mozgawa (keys/synths), Barnett’s laid back vocals and deceptively complex, quasi-stream-of-consciousness lyrics proved the true stars, anchoring each number with vivid imagery that only the best songwriters can conjure.
Between rocking out on the one-two punch of “Small Poppies” and “Turning Green,” and the hour-mark energy apex of evening highlight “Pedestrian at Best,” Barnett sprinkled in humorous anecdotes about strolling down by the French Broad River earlier in the day and Mudie allegedly wanting to buy a mountain home, yet mostly stayed in the mid-tempo zone that defines much of her output.
Considering the ongoing Omicron surge, however, the borderline meditative tone was probably more beneficial that most attendees realized. Though technically a sold out show, concertgoers spread out to a comfortable degree and excelled at keeping their required masks on, resulting in one of the lowest amounts of bar activity during the pandemic — at least within the back right sector. The restraint and respect for one’s fellow man was so consistent that, in an impressive display of self-control, the 20something man to my left never seemed to raise the plastic cup from his hand to his lips, apparently treating it more as an amulet against the virus than a source of liquid refreshment.
Perhaps Barnett should have followed his lead. Days later, she postponed the tour’s remaining dates due to a positive COVID-19 test, highlighting once more the extreme current fragility of the music industry. For fans lucky enough to catch her at the Peel or on Wednesday and Thursday at Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 Club, those shows now feel even more precious and stressed that it’s on us to continue doing our part to keep such opportunities possible.
(Photo: Mia Mala McDonald)
