Courtney Barnett • Zoh Amba • August 22, 2026 • The Complex
Courtney Barnett’s Salt Lake stop of the Creature of Habit tour was a massive hit with both the dedicated fans and excited newcomers seeing Barnett live for the first time. The tour stopped in Salt Lake City at The Complex.
Zoh Amba
The evening started off just right with the artist and composer Zoh Amba. The blended genre artist took the crowd by surprise, but a good surprise, of course. The mix of jazz and noise artistry was very unique, and unlike any opening act I’ve heard before, but was also one of the most talented saxophonists I’ve ever heard. Amba playing that saxophone was legendary, hitting wild tones and melodical runs. The crowd was going wild for Zoh Amba, absolutely loving the energy that was being brought to the stage by the performance.
Courtney Barnett
The March 2026 release of her album “Creature of Habit” has been a massive hit, with tour stops all over the country selling out and on low-ticket warnings. The Salt Lake show was nearly full, with people spilling out of The Grand at the Complex. The Creature of Habit Tour, named after the Creature of Habit album from Courtney Barnett, had the bug/creature theme perfectly executed. From the large praying mantis on the backing banner, to every piece of merch matching the green buggy theme, to the lighting matching the energy of each song from the album, it was all thought through and designed exquisitely.
Barnett’s storytelling ability through her songs captured the audience’s attention and kept the crowd engaged throughout the performance. In these songs, the emotions can be felt so vividly through the storylines that Barnett produces that it makes it feel like you’re in the moment that the events are happening with Barnett. The whole crowd was going through all the emotions, from jumping and dancing around with their friends to cheering, to swaying as the lyrics were a bit too relatable with the crowd. Interestingly enough, Barnett’s touring setlist wasn’t as fixed as other artists that are out on the road. Most of the songs in SLC were from the Creature of Habit album, while some on the more popular songs and deep cuts were mixed in a different order that in previous shows, making every night truly unique and a different show experience for each crowd.
One instantly recognizable thing about Barnett’s performance is that she plays her guitar left-handed. This is incredibly impressive for the fans to witness, especially if they didn’t know that she played that way before seeing her live. The crowd was singing along, cheering, and jumping all about the entire show. Some especially memorable moments included the songs “Mantis”, the new song “Site Unseen”, and a very special performance of “Canned Tomatoes” with Zoh Amba absolutely crushing it and adding a whole new element to the song. Barnett also had a solo performance of “Mostly Patient,” which had Barnett cast under a spotlight, creating an extremely intimate moment between the crowd and Barnett.
Not only was Barnett crushing it on stage, but also backing band members Bones Sloane on bass and Dave Mudie on drums. They both added such a special vibe to the performance, both musically and energy-wise. They were absolutely rocking out and helping elevate the energy of the performance.
At the end of the night, during the encore, the crowd had never been so loud, asking for just one more song. Barnett came back out to sing four more songs and said, “Can we get a huge round of applause for Zoh Amba for opening the stage for us!!! We love you so much, Salt Lake. Thank you for hanging with us.” before ending off the night by playing “Nobody Cares If You Don’t Go To The Party.”
