BARNS COURTNEY SETLIST

London Girls
Fun Never Ends
Wanna be a Star
Guillotine
Hands
Hobo Rocket
Supernatural
Champion
Little Boy
Glitter & Gold
Hollow
You & I
99
Young in America
Golden Dandelions
Kicks
Fire

BARNS COURTNEY TOUR DATES

SEP 19 House of Blues Dallas, TX
SEP 20 Emos Austin, TX
SEP 21 House of Blues Houston, TX
SEP 23 Crowbar Tampa, FL
SEP 24 Culture Room Fort Lauderdale, FL
SEP 26 The Social Orlando, FL
SEP 27 Jack Rabbits Jacksonville, FL
SEP 28 Georgia Theater Athens, GA
SEP 30 Saturn Birmingham, AL
OCT 1 Eastside Bowl Nashville, TN
OCT 3 The Underground Charlotte, NC
OCT 5 Lincoln Theatre Washington, DC
OCT 7 Union Transfer Philadelphia, PA
OCT 8 Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA
OCT 10 Empire Live Albany, NY
OCT 12 The Studio at Webster Hall New York City, NY
OCT 14 XL Live Harrisburg, PA
OCT 15 Phoenix Concert Theatre Toronto, Canada
OCT 17 House of Blues Cleveland, OH
OCT 18 Saint Andrews Hall Detroit, MI
OCT 19 Stage AE Pittsburgh, PA
OCT 21 Newport Music Hall Columbus, OH
OCT 22 Headliners Music Hall Louisville, KY
OCT 24 Park West Chicago, IL
OCT 25 Fine Line Music Cafe Minneapolis, MN
OCT 27 Waiting Room Lounge Omaha, NE
OCT 28 Delmar Hall Saint Louis, MO
NOV 1 Summit Music Hall Denver, CO
NOV 2 The Urban Lounge Salt Lake City, UT
NOV 4 House of Blues San Diego, CA
NOV 5 Observatory Santa Ana, CA
NOV 8 El Rey Theatre Los Angeles, CA
NOV 9 August Hall San Francisco, CA
NOV 11 Wonder Ballroom Portland, OR
NOV 12 The Showbox Seattle, WA

For his first time headlining a show in three years, UK alt rock singer-songwriter Barns Courtney burst out with the pent-up infectious energy of a tea kettle left on the stove to over boil, and the packed crowd at recordBar in Kansas City returned that elevated amount of energy, back in kind.

Courtney was out on the first date of his Out With the Old Tour, which plays North America for the next two months, with Bristol UK band The Ramona Flowers (who we caught live in 2016) opening many dates on the first leg (sadly, not this one).

As for Courtney himself (who we’ve caught previous in 2016 and 2018), he’s still out in support of 2019’s full-length 404, but also has many new songs in the can, ahead of a new album expected late this year.

His sixty-five-minute started fiercely, with a rapid drum beat introducing 2019’s “London Girls” and Courtney prowling the stage from end to end, singing, “I should have cut my hair and changed my name” when in fact, he’s let his hair grow out, dyed it a platinum blonde, and kept his name, even emblazoning his initials in a large Roman font, on the back of his custom-made leather jacket (which he never took off despite the heat).

With additional red blush on his cheeks and a devilish smile, he took on a Dark Knight-era Heath Ledger appearance, grinning similar to Yungblud or a younger Steven Tyler.

Courtney had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the beginning, as many had originally bought tickets over two years ago and had been waiting since and showed their loyalty back early on with “whoa-oh” responses back to every verse of 2019’s “Fun Never Ends”.

The three-piece band was solid all night, despite only having learned the songs/set in six days (his female bassist only had two days) and each played with a reserved flourish. In addition to being his first headlining slot, the KC crowd got to hear several, yet-to-be-released songs including the new “Wanna be a Star” and “Guillotine”.

No one had to tell the capacity throng to clap along to 2017’s “Hands” as they just did, and on current single, “Supernatural” Courtney sang, “You’re terrifin’, beautiful, like a thunderbolt through my body”, maybe speaking of his own blast of frenetic energy that helped propel the set.

“They’re all Champions!” referring to his bassist, guitarist, and drummer for learning the set so quickly, before launching into the 2017 anthem, and the energy went to an even higher level for the rousing stomp of 2017’s “Glitter and Gold” with the crowd’s voices even drowning out the band’s, on the choruses.

Fans went back in time to the seemingly simpler 1990’s for the melodic radio hit, “99”, Courtney leaned on his own upbringing (living in Seattle from age 4-15) on the new “Young in America”, and the set found its fifth (maybe sixth) gear towards the end with 2017’s primal and booming “Kicks” and the main set closer, “Fire”.

Courtney had everyone crouch low to the ground, to then explode into a total jump-a-long on the floor with the man himself venturing out in the middle to spur things on further.

By the end of the main set, both band and crowd were happily exhausted, but the audience found it still in them to chant and applaud for more, even though it would be hard to top the end of the main set. Though a set of encore songs was listed, the band chose to end the night as-is and on a definite high.

While most bands returning to the road simply say how grateful they are to be playing live music again, a few acts really show you how excited they are, and that energy often translates back into equal or greater energy from the crowd, resulting in a truly interactive and experiential evening. Barns Courtney is one of those performers.

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