Photo: Lauren McDermott
29 September is going to go down in Barns Courtney’s personal history as possibly the busiest day of his life. Firstly it is album release day, his debut ‘The Attractions Of Youth’ has been unleashed into the world after years and years of hard graft leading towards this point, secondly it’s the final date of his headline tour, which has seen the singer take on the north and now London, and thirdly, and perhaps most impressively, a mere few hours before he takes to the stage in Camden he was on a plane, flying back from his appearance on James Corden’s Late Late Show in Los Angeles.
Barns’ live show is surprisingly diverse, sure he wields a guitar and croons like on the singles we’ve previously heard, but he also takes to the piano for a couple of more sombre numbers proving he’s mastered the art of emotive balladry too. His voice is practically faultless throughout the pop rock morsels he delivers, and the adoring audience singing most of the words back to him only cements his newfound rockstar status.
At one point Barns is also joined on stage by saxophonist John Waugh, most notable for his work with The 1975, to add some welcome sax appeal to the show. A definite highlight of the evening ‘Golden Dandelions’ is euphoric inside the Camden haunt as the musician edges towards the end of his performance, beginning a hat-trick of hits with the blistering ‘Kicks’ and ‘Fire’ following on and closing the set. A rockstar-in-waiting for many years, Barns now has Dingwalls in the palm of his hand as he reigns over the North London venue continuing his exhilarating ascent.
