NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2026
It’s hard to believe that Australian rocker Courtney Barnett blew onto the scene just thirteen years ago with “Avant Gardner”. It feels like I’ve enjoyed her incredibly inexpressive but hilarious vocals for much longer than that. The subject matter may not always be funny but the phrasing and delivery are everything! Barnett released her fourth studio album Creature of Habit in March of this year, a classic alt rock album that somehow didn’t chart here in the pop dominated US charts. She has been touring non-stop post-release with a UK tour in March/April, the first leg of her North American tour in May/June, and a brief respite with only the Newport Folk Festival in July. On August 11th, she resumed her North American tour at the Agora Theatre in Cleveland, OH. We were eager to see whether there were any changes to her setlist from the first leg of the tour.
The opener for this part of the tour was young singer/songwriter Zoh Amba (aka Britni Hamrick) from Tennessee, a former jazz saxophonist who released two jazz albums O, Sun and O Life, O Light Vol. 1 in 2022 and 2024 respectively before releasing their first non-jazz studio album Eyes Full in June of this year. This record moves them back a bit to their home roots with an Americana sound. Accompanied by a bassist and drummer, Amba played through their short set, singing with a country twang and squeak. They’ll be touring with Courtney Barnett through August so check them out if you can.
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Courtney Barnett kicked off her set with “Stay In Your Lane”, the first track off Creature of Habit, hitting you right in the head with her tongue-in-cheek lyrics. She followed with “City Looks Pretty, a bass heavy (deftly played by Bones Sloane), slightly depressing track about loneliness in a big city. Next up was fan favorite “Avant Gardner”, a song that always gets the crowd singing along. Never one for constant chatter, Barnett blew through her enormously satisfying set which included every track from her latest record, allowing us to hear “Another Beautiful Day” performed live for the first time!! Besides replacing “Anonymous Club” with “Need a Little Time” from 2018’s Tell Me How You Really Feel and the addition of “Another Beautiful Day”, we were also treated to an extra song during the encore: “Canned Tomatoes (Whole)”, which hadn’t been played live for years! Also, having seen drummer Stella Mazgawa play with Warpaint many times, it was great to see her really rock out with Barnett. In this day of generic pop constantly played on radio and streaming services through their “algorithms”, it’s amazing to see a rock band playing their respective instruments so expertly, combined with actual live vocals. Definitely provides a more hopeful feeling about the future of rock and live music. Maybe Barnett can write a song about that!
Courtney Barnett continues her North American tour through August before hitting a couple of festivals in September and wrapping up her touring season by traipsing through Europe. Catch her while you can and pick up a copy of Creature of Habit while you’re at it!
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