Indie rockers Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett discuss how their friendship naturally blossomed into a musical partnership in Friends of Wonder, a new documentary filmed in part during the duo’s recent performance at the historic Lowe’s Jersey Theatre in Jersey City, New Jersey. “I didn’t take long for us to click,” Barnett says of Vile. “I think our personalities are on a plane.”
The 34-minute doc blends backstage interview footage with live performances of several songs, highlighted by a slow-burning version of Vile solo cut “Live a Life Like This” and material from the duo’s collaborative debut LP, last year’s Lotta Sea Lice.
At one point, Barnett discusses her love of live theater. “My mom used to be in the ballet, and she toured around the world dancing in theaters and stuff,” he says. “She’d take me to the ballet every now and then. I love musicals like … Singing in the Rain, West side Story, Grease.” Vile interjects that his favorite musical is Green Day’s rock opera American Idiot, which earns a laugh from his bandmate.
Barnett ends by summarizing her overall love for live music, noting that it “refills you with hope in a hopeless world.”
