- Courtney Barnett w/ Truman Sinclair
- 05/15/2026 - The Sylvee - Madison, WI
- ©Justin Nuoffer
On a gorgeous Friday evening in the capitol city of Wisconsin, people were out and about. The bars and restaurants around Capitol Circle were overflowing. Down East Washington Ave., businesses were seeing the same effect. Breese Stevens Field was packed full of people for the soccer match. However, across the street at The Sylvee, a long line waited to enter. The large glass facade reflected the sun’s rays onto the crowd. The marquee above the glass doors read, “Courtney Barnett Tonight.”
As the doors opened, fans were quickly ushered through. To the right, the tour merchandise area was already busy and to the left, a bar lined the back wall, full of the after-work crowd starting to let loose. Straight ahead, a set of stairs led down to the main floor, where a barricade lined the entire length of the space. In front of it, the massive stage cut out from the wall stood roughly six feet off the ground.
Truman Sinclair ©Justin Nuoffer
Opening the evening to a boisterous Madison crowd was Truman Sinclair. The Chicago-born, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter took the stage with a full band accompanying him. With his first full-length album, American Recordings, released last year, he has slowly gained momentum. Enough so that he signed with Capitol Records and, earlier this year, released Rivers of Sugar and Blood, an EP.
With the band surrounding him, the singer-songwriter punched up his folk sound with additional layers. Armed with an array of harmonicas and guitars, Sinclair stood over the microphone and danced around it as he dished out new tracks one after another, including “Caught,” “Stuck,” and “Alright.” The Madison crowd overwhelmingly enjoyed it. Their applause told the story.
Check out the Truman Sinclair concert photo gallery below:
Sinclair and his band had a bounce to them that was different from most folk artists, but he still kept to some of the genre’s more traditional sounds with “Joel Roberts,” “Pale Horse,” and “Boots,” which closed out their set. His performance drew attention and served as a perfect reason to follow him along his rise to bigger platforms.
With nothing on stage but guitar cabinets, a drum riser, and a drum kit, all of the focus was on the performers themselves. Red lighting cascaded down from high above as Courtney Barnett and her backing band, consisting of drummer Stella Mozgawa and bassist Bones Sloane, took the stage. After a few waves and smiles, the Australian singer-songwriter grabbed her guitar and kicked off the night with “Stay in Your Lane,” the first single from her 2026 release Creatures of Habit. She then moved into the more familiar “City Looks Pretty” and “Avant Gardener.” Starting the show with a bang had The Sylvee alive and buzzing.
Tearing through the guitar-driven tracks one by one with her unique vocals felt like an homage to Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders. The strength and talent were nearly identical. Moving through the setlist, older cuts like “Small Poppies” and “Avant Gardener” had heads and bodies bopping around, but this was a tour celebrating the new album, and “Mantis,” “Same,” and “Site Unseen” were introduced to the Madison faithful. The overall reaction was positive, with many singing along to the fresh material. These were not the only tracks from Creatures of Habit either. “Great Advice,” “Sugar Plum,” and “Wonder” also filled the middle of the set.
Digging back to Things Take Time, Take Time, Barnett and her band were impressive and completely in tune with one another. Every little ad-lib and adjustment was picked up seamlessly. Their artistry as a unit kept building through “Before You Gotta Go” and “Write a List of Things To Look Forward To.”
The popularity of the songs had fans singing along, and Barnett made sure to take in the scene as she often glanced around the venue. The collection of songs written during a global pandemic struck chords across the room. Songs of love and rebirth came from a collective understanding of the time and life in general.
Check out the Courtney Barnett concert photo gallery below:
Returning from the short encore break, Barnett stood at her microphone with her left-handed guitar in hand. Thanking the crowd, she smiled and started a solo rendition of “Mostly Patient.” The song is the final track from the brand-new album and perhaps the most impressive moment of the evening. It was simply Barnett and a guitar telling a long, winding story.
The beauty of the moment was one to remember, but closing with two tracks from the beginning brought back the feeling of why everyone came in the first place: the familiarity of the work that drew them in. Starting with “Pedestrian at Best” and finishing with “Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the Party,” Barnett closed the evening with the songs that helped lead to a Grammy Awards nomination for Best New Artist. The love for the material was ever present as the fans’ voices filled the air. The Sylvee felt like home, a place you needed to be in at that exact moment.
Courtney Barnett is, without a doubt, an incredible performer with a simple approach to her music: just make it rock and let the words flow. Her unique cadences and rambling lyrics feel like a constant stream of consciousness. This is what makes it great and worth the price of admission. Delivering a twenty-song journey of self-realization and fulfillment, Courtney Barnett established herself as one of the industry’s best-kept secrets despite filling a 2,500-capacity venue.
Catch Courtney Barnett on the Road…
