[ATTENDED: January 31, 2018] Jen Cloher
Sarah and I saw Jen Cloher open for Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile. But because of traffic and parking, we saw barely two songs by her. Her set (like Barnett & Vile’s) was acoustic. She announced that she would be playing at Johnny Brenda’s in January and that her set would be much more rocking. She also teased out that Courtney would be playing lead guitar for her. Those two details made me want to see the show. And I’m really glad I went.
I hadn’t been to Johnny Brenda’s before. I heard it was small and sight lines could be tough if you got there late. This show was sold out but I must have gotten there early because I was almost right in front of the stage (I was behind a woman who basically took up three spots with how often she moved around).
After being pretty far from Courtney at the previous set I made sure to set up on her side of the stage. And it was pretty electric when she came out to tune up he guitar. I saw that Kurt Vile was hanging around off to the side of the stage too, although he didn’t come out or anything.
I had listened to a few of Cloher’s songs before the set but I was wholly unprepared for how much she would rock out–and what a great punk snarl she had when she sang.
She played a lot of stuff from her really great new album (called Jen Cloher) and then a few other surprises.
“Regional Echo” is a pretty slow song, but it was quite nice. The rest of the night rocked quite a bit harder.
“Forgot Myself” has her kind of sing/speaking in kind of rocker drawl (I imagined everyone from Chrissie Hynde to Laura Marling to Roland S. Howard (a nod to Andrew for that) in her delivery). This song has a big chorus and a chance for everyone to rock out.
She made a joke about being in “Fishtown” and said there’s lots of Irish Catholics “the heart of my target market” (accent in full use there). She explained that she was very Irish herself: Jennifer Mary Clogher–there used to be a g before the h and they modernized it by… dropping the g.
Jen and her bassist Bones Sloane grabbed new instruments before “Sensory Memory” and a few other times, although I noticed that Courtney never switched guitars at all during the show. Courtney played some lovely lead licks throughout this song–pretty and perfect accompaniment to this song about being apart.
“Shoegazers” is a fun snarling stab at indie rock and herself
Indie rock is full of privileged white kids
I know because I’m one of them
Who else has the luxury to gaze backwards?
(And Courtney: I went out on the road with my girlfriend / I watched her have the career most people dream).
Courtney played a great noisy solo on this song–wonderfully slackery.
“Analysis Paralysis” has a great shuffling bass and drum beat and her wonderfully deadpan vocals. For this song, Courtney’s guitar was not distorted–she played a clean guitar lick throughout the song.
I love the very Australian-ness of this verse:
Oh goddamn
We drained the dam
Now the kangaroos
Are drinking from the pool
And then the sadly universal realities of people trying to prevent others from living their lives.
While the Hansonites
Take a plebiscite
To decide
If I can have a wife
I pay my fines
Taxes on time
But the feral right
Get to decide
If I can have a wife
If I can have a wife?
Born into hate
Brought up to despise
Frightened of a world
That’s left them behind
Courtney did (another) great a wailing solo on this one–it lasted a few minutes–through the end of the song.
Cloher had recorded a previous album with this same live line up: Bones, Courtney and kick ass drummer Jen Sholakis. They played “Mount Beauty” from that album although without the acoustic intro.
For “Stone Age Brain“, Jen and Courtney shared lead vocals with the really fun chorus of “I Don’t Know Why I’m Breaking Down.” I hadn’t really heard Courtney “sing” before since she mostly speak-sings.
Cloher thanked us for the warm response, asking who went to the Tower Theater show (a good return on investment). Then she said, “As a woman of 44 years of age, it’s cool to cruise on in here and have all of you waiting for me.”
“Great Australian Bite” pays homage to “all the great Australian bands that have come before us.” She did this song without her guitar. The opening bass was deep and ponderous–perfect for this song. Jen was a great front woman in general, but especially for this song, where she had some more mobility. But then she stepped back to let Courtney absolutely wail a solo while Sholakis beat up the drums behind her.
“Needle in the Hay” is from a split 7″ with Courtney. There was more great wild soloing from Courtney at the end. And then came the final song. “Strong Woman” is an absolutely great song. It’s catchy and powerful with great backing vocals. The whole band sounded terrific and Courtney did a scorching solo.
I wasn’t sure how long her show would be. I was a little surprised that the set was only an hour long, but I wasn’t disappointed at all (I mean, tickets were $12).
The encore surprised me though because they played a song from the Kurt & Courtney album–she said she liked the Lotta Sea Lice album and there was one song that she especially liked–not just because she wrote it–called “Fear is Like a Forest.” Mia Dyson came up to sing with them (and not Kurt, although she dedicated it to Kurt and Suzanne). Her version absolutely rocked–instantly recognizable, but so very different with the electric guitars. Jen, Courtney and Mia all took a lead vocal. Courtney and Mia also traded off on guitar solos.
Jen joked about the Super Bowl coming up and someone saying “I can’t way it to see the Eagles.” She thought it was the band, and wondered why the fuck so many people were excited to see them.
She asked if anyone had watched Aussie Rules Football. She said Sholakis has a team called the Bulldogs. They could be the Eagles because they never won [crowd boos]. But… but… wait this is where it gets better. Sholakis said, “last year we won our first grand final in 60 years and I’ve got a feeling that you guys might be the same” [cheers]. Cloher: “Now that Saint Jennifer Sholakis has blessed the team…” Then Bones jumped in “or you’ll have 60 years of bad luck…sorry about that.”
Then Cloher told about a radio spot where the DJ kept calling the drummer Jen Shockalockus, which everyone liked.
The show ended with “Name in Lights,” a really catchy song that has a great rocking ending that turned into a nearly five-minute jam with Jen just screaming at one point.
The whole show was a treat and a really fun experience to be a part of.
Setlist: (and see below the set list for more pics and a video).
- Regional Echo*
- Forgot Myself*
- Sensory Memory*
- Shoegazers*
- Analysis Paralysis*
- Mount Beauty**
- Stone Age Brain
- Great Australian Bite*
- Needle in the Hay
- Strong Woman*
- encore
- Fear Is Like a Forest *HH
- Name in Lights**
from: *Jen Cloher CD 2017 **In Blood Memory CD 2013; *HH Hidden Hands, CD 2009
A
nd because I was so excited to see Courtney Barnett up so close, here’s a whole bunch of pictures of her wailing!
You can watch the whole set here
I Just Read About That... 
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