I Know A Place Called The Roxy: Courtney Barnett live

COURTNEY BARNETT

CHASTITY BELT

DARREN HANLON

ROXY, LA

30 MAY, 2015

Momentum has been building as Courtney Barnett tours the country in support of her full-length debut, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. The frenzy accompanying the first of two sold out nights at LA's Roxy Theater served as confirmation, as well as a homecoming of sorts. A home away from home, if you will, as LA served as one of four places on the globe blessed with a gallery premier show of the new work back in March, Fully engaged with her rhythm section, the trio blazed through their set, balancing new and old material, but the tipping point for viewing how far she's come occured during "Depreston", when the crowd spontaneously sang the end refrain back to her. Truly a touching moment. "Small Poppies" and "Dead Fox" were also standouts, capturing the polar ends of her spectrum.

While waiting for Chastity Belt to hit the stage, one was given to ponder just what the appropriate name for this tour would be: "Battle of the C.B.'s", or perhaps a more formal "Courtney Belt". Ruminations aside, the band more than held up their end of this magic billing. Last fall in Lancaster, CA, we got our first taste of the songs that would form the spine of Time To Go Home, and the LP saw formal release in March. Roadwork in the interim has sharpened up the songs, to the point where their set featured only the Home material, plus even newer unreleased songs, ("Dull"). "IDC", the title track, and especially "On The Floor" served to spotlight the band interplay, and opener "Drone" is one of the better examples of Julia Shapiro's incisive writing. Moving forward is what Chastity Belt does, and the Roxy's refurbished system really brought out the depth of their sound. 

Veteran Australian troubador Darren Hanlon opened the night with a witty and engaging set of story songs, peaking with "Punks Not Dead", a reminisce of his days living in a punk house in Sydney. It was a great introduction to an artist we'll make a point to get more familiar with. If your ears bend to the taste of Paul Kelly or Peter Case, make a note of his name. Only bum note of his set was on the too-talkative audience members, but it's a measure of his professionalism that he didn't go full Kozelek on them, instead quickly expediting the situation. 

 COURTNEY BARNETT

CHASTITY BELT

Annie elevates her sock game...

1st song (obscured) was "Drone"...

DARREN HANLON

Waxahatchee Takes LA, pt II

WAXAHATCHEE

GIRLPOOL

UPSET

THE ROXY, LA

28 APRIL, 2015

A rare incursion to the west side of LA found us checking out the refurbished Roxy on, as they say, the fabulous Sunset Strip for the Waxahatchee tour, with support from Girlpool and Upset. Well into day two of major sleep deprivation, all it took was a quick pre-show visit to Mel's Diner to put things right. Just weeks ago we saw Upset in a beach side rec room, and the graduation to the same stage Bruce Springsteen laid waste to 40 years ago was a thing to behold. And hold their own they did, careening through their set to an already stuffed house.

Having seen Girlpool primarily at house parties or all ages spaces, the question was how the transition to a full bar show would go, especially given the intimate nature of their music. Having done tours opening up for Jenny Lewis, and now Waxahatchee, it turns out there was not a worry to be had, as they dialed up the sass, and kept their focus throughout the Talky McTalksters, and emerged unscathed from the "typical LA audience". Bonus points for spilling the beans on being part of the as-yet officially announced FYF lineup for 2015.

As for Waxahatchee, the big news for this tour was the super sizing of the lineup to a quintet, and the onboarding of Allison Crutchfield (Swearin') to round out the lineup. On the heels of 2013's Waxahatchee/Swearin' tour, one held out hope, and for those who never got to see the sisters together onstage in their PS Eliot days, it was a dream come true. Obviously there was no hitch in the getalong stylistically, and the skeleton of the set was built around the brand new Ivy Tripp, beginning with the double-shot of "Breathless"/"Under A Rock" and ending with "Bonfire". "<" and Cerulean Salt's "Lips and Limbs" got hypercharged readings as well. Katie returned to the stage after the main set for a brief multi-song acoustic encore, touching on material new and old, holding the now-tamed audience rapt.

WAXAHATCHEE

GIRLPOOL

UPSET