It’s five o’clock on a cloudy Wednesday afternoon on Guest St. in Brighton. Nearly every building in the immediate vicinity is a product of the twenty-first century. Office workers traverse immaculate sidewalks, their reflections adorning the glass facades of coffee shops closing for the day and restaurants preparing for the evening rush. A small group of concert goers waits outside Roadrunner, now in its fourth year as one of Boston’s premier music venues. The pristine setting is a sharp contrast to the grit, grime and ghosts which usually come to mind when recalling Boston’s rich rock history.

 Although the scene on the sidewalk is clean, the atmosphere is not sterile. As more fans arrive to secure their spot, conversation sparks naturally and perfect strangers communicate like old friends. In 2026, it takes a true force of nature to bring people together on a city street and stoke connections normally seen around the campfire. Such is the power of Courtney Barnett’s songcraft and philosophy.

Since her last visit to Boston in 2022, Barnett has been busy expanding her repertoire and road-testing new material. In 2023, she released End of the Day, the ambient score to her revealing and life affirming documentary Anonymous Club. After a short run of intimate gigs in the U.S. and her native Australia showcasing the score, she toured the UK and appeared at festivals in Europe and the Americas. Earlier this spring, she released her fourth full length rock album Creature of Habit. The LP showcases Barnett’s witty, relatable lyrics and her gift for crafting addictive melodies. Themes of questioning oneself, searching for comfort in uncertainty, and finding reassurance in unexpected places are conveyed with characteristic eloquence. With such consistent quality and genuine expression across Barnett’s catalogue, it is no wonder that so many listeners have found a feeling of home in her music.

Photo: Gary Alpert

The crowd at Roadrunner’s entrance grows in volume and in spirit. It only takes a few minutes in line to learn that Courtney Barnett fans are a diverse group of passionate music lovers. Conversations flow so naturally that even the most introverted fans shed their protective coat and swap stories of how Courtney’s music has enriched their lives. Fans assist Roadrunner staff in putting up the partitions to keep the line organized. With about half an hour until doors open, Barnett’s social media representative conducts some fan interviews with topics ranging from the importance of her music in their lives, to past concert experiences, and thoughts on Creature of Habit.

Opening sets by California singer-songwriter Truman Sinclair and Brooklyn based indie rockers Momma speak to the breadth of Barnett’s musical palette. Both openers gain new fans from the musically curious crowd whose enthusiasm seems limitless.

At 9:50 Barnett, longtime bassist Bones Sloane, and drummer Stella Mozgawa launch into “Stay in Your Lane” the pulsating opening track from Creature of Habit. The rhythm section’s driving beat underscores Barnett’s impassioned delivery like a fine-tuned earthquake. “I know you’re trying to help me” she repeats in the song’s opening bars, a mantra, suitable for either reassurance or admonishment of another party, or oneself. The imagery she uses so effectively in the verses with lines like “blood on my favorite t-shirt” and “feel like a fish on a hook” carry a great deal of weight in a live setting. One understands the speaker is in a dilemma, yet the messenger appears to be having a blast. “And now I’m here I might as well just go through with it!” she exclaims at the end of the verse. The audience doesn’t surround and gawk at the performer, they look within, guided by her poetry and rhythm. “This never would have happened if I stayed in my lane” she concludes with assuredness rather than resignation.

Sloane’s galloping bass and Mozgawa’s thundering drums drive the opening of “City Looks Pretty” the sole track from 2018’s Tell Me How You Relly Feel. Glowing red light immerses the performers. The intense lighting is the perfect visual representation of the explosive music blasting out of the speakers. Thirty-five hundred listeners take in the awe-inspiring sights and sounds, comforted by the fact that rock is alive and well. A squeaky-clean new venue on a street lined with shiny offices is hosting a power trio that could rattle the walls of The Cavern, Fillmore East, CBGB or The Rathskeller.

Throughout the evening, Barnett cements her role as the poet laureate of indie rock for the 2020’s. Her lyrics and electric stage presence amplify her knack for sharing songs with those who want and need them. In a landscape where many say, “look at me!”, artists like Barnett invite us to look at ourselves and the world. A definitive rendition of “Avant Gardner”, her tale of a gardener who is struck with an asthma attack while trying to unwind with her favorite hobby, paints a cinematic picture. Making plans to relax and create something beautiful then suddenly, the fertilizer hits the cooling unit. Writing lyrics like Barnett takes generational talent in the first place, but her ability to perform them while creating mental movies in real time nearly transcends comprehension.

Photo: Gary Alpert

On “Mantis” from the new LP, she sings in front of a large backdrop of the album cover, a black and white photo of a praying mantis. “Praying mantis on my door/Looking for meaning or anything at all”. Such is the life of a creative personality, finding inspiration everywhere and always seeking a new spark. The hook-laden “Wonder” and the Americana tinged “Sight Unseen” (performed on the record as a duet with Waxahatchee) each highlight Barnett’s unparalleled gift for melodic hooks and her bands versatility.  In total, Barnett and her band perform eight out of ten songs from Creature of Habit. Any album that can provide the structure for such a consistently inspiring live concert is sure to become a staple in many a record collection.

Tracks from Barnett’s 2015 breakout album Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit place perfectly alongside the new material. One can easily draw a line from the wistful portrayal of building a new home life in “Depreston” to the solo performance of “Mostly Patient” from Creature as evidence of the poignancy that runs through this growing body of work. Blazing rockers “Elevator Operator” and “Pedestrian at Best” prove that the catharsis of alt-rock is not just a relic of past eras but can still be amplified with originality and fresh fury.

The final song of the encore, “Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the Party” takes all the force generated by the incendiary set and channels it into a showstopper still echoing in the ears of those lucky enough to be within earshot. Another relatable Barnett chorus rings out, “I wanna go out, but I wanna stay home”. A universal dilemma indeed, that is unless Courtney Barnett is in town. In that case, get up early, call in sick, get in line and experience the perfect blend of emotion and humor, power and vulnerability, questions and answers. In twenty years when the attendees of this show see their children, students or young coworkers wearing a Courtney Barnett t-shirt, they will proudly brag that they saw her in 2026 at Roadrunner. - Christopher Minor

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