Billy BraggThe Tivoli is absolutely packed with a somewhat genteel clientele as burgeoning songwriting sensation Courtney Barnett takes the stage armed only with an electric guitar and a cache of great songs – reminiscent of tonight's headliner in his pomp – and delivers a short but memorable set, kicking off with the narrative-driven Scotty Says and the melancholy Out Of The Woodwork. Barnett's laconic drawl proves compelling throughout, the inherent conviction offset by a world-weariness which belies her tender years. The one-two punch of singles Avant Gardener and History Eraser cuts any chatter in the venue as new ears prick up at the obvious top-notch songwriting, before the young Melbournian finishes with strong new track Depreston. It's no easy task holding a large crowd's attention with no adornment like Barnett does tonight, proving why she's in the midst of wooing the music cognoscenti on a worldwide scale.
UK legend Billy Bragg, however, cut his teeth a long time ago and is afforded a hero's welcome as he enters the fray at the head of his five-piece band and starts with the politically charged Ideology, which has lost none of its bite over the near 30 years since it first appeared. Musically the band he's assembled is of an Americana bent to suit new album Tooth & Nail so they by default smooth the edges of his earlier material, but their sound inherently suits new numbers like No One Knows Nothing Anymore and the Guthrie-penned Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key from Bragg's acclaimed Mermaid Avenue venture with Wilco. The Bard's between-song banter – long an integral part of his onstage arsenal – is as strong as ever, skewering a string of targets ranging from the obvious to the obtuse, and he proves his country music credentials by dusting off his late-'80s number You Woke Up My Neighbourhood.
At this stage Bragg's band file into the darkness leaving him in solo mode, and he pulls out a string of powerful, anthemic older tunes like To Have And To Have Not, Which Side Are You On?, Between The Wars, Milkman Of Human Kindness and Greetings To The New Brunette, all of which have the now lubricated crowd singing along with unbridled gusto. The band return and embark on yet another string of favourites, tunes like Sexuality, Handyman Blues, the excellent California Stars and the evergreen A New England leading to the climax which finds Accident Waiting To Happen dedicated to our own right-wing media icon Andrew Bolt. The crowd bray for an inevitable return, the home stretch starting with an a cappella I Don't Need This Pressure Ron which tumbles into the ever-rousing There Is Power In A Union, the pathos of Tank Park Salute and the now-familiar farewell of Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards, the powerful paean preceded by an impassioned anti-cynicism rallying cry. Still so potent after all these years.
