Angel Olsen and the Big Time Band kicked off their Winter North American tour in Atlanta on Friday night at The Eastern.
Back in June of last year, Angel Olsen released one of the year’s best albums, Big Time (Jagjaguwar), but the 2022 concerts were mostly spent on the Wild Hearts Tour; a co-headlining tour with Angel, Sharon Van Etten, and Julien Baker (what an absolutely killer lineup and tour for those lucky enough to catch those shows), with the other half mostly in Europe. So this tour is Angel and the band’s opportunity to do some “old school” proper album touring, you know as the one headliner. Plus they get to hit US cities the Wild Hearts Tour didn’t make it to last year. Atlanta sure was ready to see Angel again and hear this great new album, at one of the cities newest and best venues, The Eastern.
Angel Olsen continues to evolve and change, all while still being every bit as stunning, album to album. From lo-fi guitar rock songstress, to indie pop, to orchestral rock, and now with Big Time, a little bit of country. Clearly she can do it all.
With the Big Time Band alongside Angel, built to play these more country tunes, the band brought alive songs from the album like “Dream Thing”, “Big Time”, “Right Now”, “Through The Fires”, “Go Home” and “All the Good Times”. They played all but three songs off the new album, as the audience tuned in and grooved to the songs that already felt like classics.
Of course, there was also some older Angel material mixed in through the set, giving the Big Time Band the opportunity to bring their own little nuances to the songs, making them feel as new as they did on their release dates. There was “Shut Up Kiss Me”, “All Mirrors”, “Lark”, and “Sister” that were set standouts before Angel and the band closed the set out a particularly stunning version of “Chance”.
And then the band came out for one more song for the encore with Angel stating “We just learned a new one, maybe you’ve heard it before. Now which version to do….” as they launched into a little Dolly Parton “I Will Always Love You”.
Not to go all Simon Cowell here, but yeah, that ain’t exactly an easy song to sing, but damn if that wasn’t just another reminder that Angel Olsen will go down as one of the best voices of this generation. Her voice can take her anywhere she wants, whichever direction she goes, as she continues to make audiences feel every note and lyric of her songs. What a show!
Kicking off the show on this tour, was the lovely Erin Rae who released her second album Lighten Up in 2022. A more country/folk artist, Erin Rae was the perfect opener for this tour. It was just her voice, her songs, and her acoustic guitar on stage. Much like Angel Olsen, Erin Rae can carry an audience with just those tools, putting on a lovely set that warmed up the crowd for what was to come. If you are lucky enough to be seeing Angel Olsen this tour, don’t get there late and miss Erin Rae. That’s not one to miss.
Check out photos below from Angel Olsen and Erin Rae performing live at The Eastern in Atlanta, GA on Friday, January 20th, all photos by Mike Gerry:
ERIN RAE
ANGEL OLSEN AND THE BIG TIME BAND
ANGEL OLSEN ONLINE:
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UPCOMING ANGEL OLSEN TOUR DATES:
Tue. Jan. 24 – Dallas, TX @ The Studio at The Factory
Wed. Jan. 25 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Tower Theatre
Fri. Jan. 27 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall
Sat. Jan. 28 – St Louis, MO @ The Factory
Sun. Jan. 29 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bluebird
Tue. Jan. 31 – Columbus, OH @ Athenaeum Theatre
Wed. Feb. 01 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
Thu. Feb. 02 – Cleveland, OH- Agora Theatre
Fri. Feb. 03 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr Small’s Theatre
Sat. Feb. 04 – Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall
Tue. Feb. 07 – New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall
Wed. Feb. 08 – Woodstock, NY @ Bearsville Theatre
Thu. Feb. 09 – Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage
Fri. Feb.10 – Richmond, VA @ The National
Sat. Feb. 11 – Durham, NC @ Carolina Theatre
