Having previously visited Australia two years ago, Nessa Barrett has returned to Australia for her AFTERCARE WORLD TOUR this December.
American singer-songwriter Nessa Barrett has an interesting brand; she’s sweet, soft and dark. Think Sanrio’s Kuromi character, not just with her looks but with her lyrics and music, dark pop. Barrett, who rose to prominence in the music industry via Tiktok, doesn’t shy away from controversial topics from beauty to death, but all of it is in a thoughtful, emotional, sexy, surprising, refreshing and incredibly romantic way.
With a tiny square elevated platform on the Margaret Court Arena stage, Nessa Barrett took to the stage in a black velvet two-piece with shiny crucifix décor, accompanied by a three-member band that were dressed in white shirts and ties. Kicking off with songs ‘S.L.U.T.’, ‘BABYDOLL’ and ‘heartbreak in the hamptons’, it wasn’t long before Barrett affectionately and sweetly addressed her Melbourne audience, citing that it’s been two years since she’s been in Australia and that it didn’t feel real.
The Melbourne concert also marked her first time performing in an arena in our city. Having been away for so long, Barrett commented on how surprising the weather was in Victoria, and how relieved she was to be performing in an indoor venue, considering she got rained on at the Spilt Milk Festival in Ballarat, confessing that she assumed the Australian summer would be hot, so she parked bathing suits and sexy clothes, only for Victoria to showcase how we’re known for our four seasons one day.
Nessa Barrett has no bad songs. Everything in her setlist (although some songs being more upbeat than others) was stellar, and regardless of how fast or soft her songs were, many Melbourne patrons chose to stand and slow dance while shamelessly singing word for word to Barrett’s music.
The evening consisted of the Melbourne audience blissfully singing at the top of their lungs to ‘HEARTBEAT’ and dancing like no-one’s watching to ‘DIRTY LITTLE SECRET’. Tracks in the setlist included ‘EDWARD SCISSORHANDS’ complete with a small clip of Johnny Depp and Wenona Ryder on the big screen from the movie Edward Scissorhands (brilliant movie, by the way), and the hauntingly beautiful ‘RUSSIAN ROULETTE’.
Not only did Nessa Barrett thoroughly impress with her vocals but also shocked her Melbourne fans by playing on the bass guitar (and looking sexy while doing it), surprised the audience with a new song ‘HIGH ON HEAVEN’, and performed an ace cover of Portishead ‘Glory Box’.
In case you weren’t already aware of her musical talents, Nessa displayed her vocal prowess and mesmerising stage presence with her song; ‘gaslight’ about a manipulative and possessive relationship, ‘dying on the inside’ which was my personal favourite as it’s about social expectations of beauty, manners and judgement of being a woman in the world, and ‘die first’ which although sounds a bit morbid, is incredibly romantic about not wanting to live without the person she loves. Newly added to this excellent list is her song ‘GIVEN ENOUGH’ which shares about giving her all in a relationship and being exhausted. These Nessa Barrett songs specifically are lyrical masterpieces, and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise.
Although it was a little strange to have the faux last song ‘AFTERCARE’ which is more of a musical interlude, Nessa Barrett wasn’t off stage for long, closing out the Melbourne concert with ‘P*RNSTAR’.
It is no question that Nessa Barrett is a gifted and talented singer-songwriter. Her AFTERCARE WORLD TOUR is mainly just a girl fronting a band. There are no bells and whistles, nor elaborate sets, no dancers, but she doesn’t need any of it. Her stage presence and eloquently penned lyrics are more than enough to satisfy even the biggest Nessa Barrett fan, whilst also converting new fans along the way.
Admittedly, this was my first time seeing Nessa Barrett, and honestly, all hail the dark pop princess.
Nessa Barrett’s AFTERCARE WORLD TOUR is currently touring Australia and is proudly presented by Frontier Touring. She performed in Melbourne at Margaret Court Arena on Tuesday the 9th of December. She recently performed in Sydney on Wednesday the 10th of December at Hordern Pavilion and is scheduled to play in Brisbane’s The Fortitude Music Hall on Tuesday the 16th of December. She’s also currently touring nationally as an artist part of the insane line-up at the Spilt Milk Festival. For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://www.frontiertouring.com/nessabarrett
https://www.nessa-barrett.com
https://www.instagram.com/nessabarrett
Photography by Grant Alexander.
