Big Thief’s huge 2019 included the release of two albums and a sold out tour that began with three nights in their hometown of NYC. On Thursday, November 11th, the critically acclaimed indie rock band brought the show to Atlanta with a completely sold out show at Variety Playhouse in Little Five Points.
Starting out the show was Palehound from Boston who was joining Big Thief on this tour behind their third album Black Friday, released on June 18th via Polyvinyl Records. Led by Ellen Kempner, Palehound is a perfect companion for Big Thief. Ellen delivers her own powerful lyrics, while bringing the rock ‘n’ roll passion. Behind her most accomplished album yet, Palehound seems a little more upbeat than the past, even with a cleaner sound. It was evident onstage as the band rocked the already packed Atlanta audience.
Releasing their debut album, aptly titled Masterpiece, in 2016, the band of Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, James Krivchenia, and Max Oleartchik have been making masterpiece after masterpiece as Big Thief over 3 more albums since. Critical acclaim has been rewarded to the band release after release while they’ve built a rabid fanbase, all while going against the grain and doing it their own way. In 2019 alone the band has released two albums back to back via 4AD, something that goes against any typical album release cycle in the music world.
On the same day as the Atlanta show, Adrianne posted a video in response to the band not playing encores at their shows often saying: “Hello. If ever the band can play an encore wholeheartedly, we’ll do it. And if it doesn’t feel fully in our hearts to stay up there and keep performing, then we won’t. I just want to try and maintain that kind of honesty in the shows. I’m sorry if it bums people out when we don’t do encores or play for a super-long time, but each night we’re writing a new setlist, and we’re actually just playing all the songs that are really on our hearts to play. And I don’t really know how to operate any other way. I don’t really care about getting famous or, like, getting bigger. And I don’t care if I’m playing dive bars for the rest of my life. My feeling is just, like, if you want to come and if you’re enjoying the experience and if there can be some kind of genuine exchange, let’s do it. But we’re definitely not monkeys, and we’ll definitely not ever do things just to adhere to other people’s expectations.”
Clearly Big Thief are a band that has earned their reputation while keeping their artistic integrity and being the band they see fit. Truly it’s a beautiful thing in the year of 2019. At their core, led by Lenker’s deep lyrics, Big Thief is a folk band. No, not in the radio friendly way that hit the indie world in the early part of the decade, but in a much deeper and truer sense. Though surrounded by her tight knit and uber talented bandmates, Big Thief is a powerful blend of influences that have become one of the best rock ‘n’ roll bands of the past five years, and they clearly aren’t slowing down either.
It’s evident on their two releases this year. U.F.O.F., released on May 3rd, which shows off their more ethereal side with different textures and layers, while Two Hands, released on October 11th, has a more raw poignancy as it was recorded in live takes right after U.F.O.F. It’s even more evident seeing them live though.
The Atlanta set included a little bit from each of their four albums, the majority of their most beloved songs, and even a few of Adrianne Lenker’s solo songs. Oh yeah, plus the Variety Playhouse crowd got a 3 song encore as Adrianne simply stated “I’d like to keep playing for you guys”. Big Thief’s set was just absolutely powerful. The band plays tight like no other, a clear chemistry between the members that only furthers their connection with the audience. At times it’s as if the members are playing to an empty room alone in their own world, translating into an attentive audience that’s alone themselves in the room watching the band onstage. At the same time, the band is one unit, in it all together, which flows throughout the emotive audience that’s simply in it together with each other as they live in the intensely honest lyrics.
Whether it’s the raw screeching guitars of “Not”, or the stunning slower songs like “Mary”, Big Thief grasps their audience in a way that not many bands can do today. There aren’t a lot of bells and whistles with Big Thief, though they can still fall within the confines of experimental. Big Thief is simply a band that is brutally honest with who they are and within the music they make. They are their own. That stands out as the decade nears an end. Seeing is believing, and to catch Big Thief live is just further confirmation of one of the most powerful young bands around today.
Check out photos from the show by Mike Gerry below:
PALEHOUND
BIG THIEF
BIG THIEF ONLINE:
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UPCOMING BIG THIEF TOUR DATES
Mon. Feb. 17 – Lisbon, PT @ LAV
Tue. Feb. 18 – Porto, PT @ Hard Club
Wed. Feb. 19 – Madrid, ES @ Joy Eslava
Thu. Feb. 20 – Barcelona, ES @ La 2 de Apolo
Sat. Feb. 22 – Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv
Sun. Feb. 23 – Milan, IT @ Magnolia
Mon. Feb. 24 – Lyon, FR @ Epicerie Moderne
Tue. Feb. 25 – Paris, FR @ Cabaret Sauvage
Thu. Feb. 27 – London, UK @ Hammersmith Apollo
Sat. Feb. 29 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City
Sun. Mar. 1 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
Mon. Mar. 2 – Glasgow, UK @ Old Fruitmarket
Thu. Mar. 5 – Brussels, BE @ AB Ballroom
Fri. Mar. 6 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
Sat. Mar. 7 – Cologne, DE @ Luxor
Sun. Mar. 8 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich
Mon. Mar. 9 – Berlin, DE @ Astra
Wed. Mar. 11 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega Main Hall
Thu. Mar. 12 – Gothenburg, SE @ Pustervik
Fri. Mar. 13 – Stockholm, SE @ Debaser
Sat. Mar. 14 – Olso, NO @ Rockefeller
Sun. Mar. 15 – Aarhus, DK @ Voxhall
Thu. May 7 – Tokyo, Japan @ Shibuya WWW X
Fri. May 8 – Osaka, Japan @ Shangri-la
BIG THIEF’S VARIETY PLAYHOUSE SETLIST:
Paul
Masterpiece
Forgotten Eyes
Not
Those Girls
The Toy
Shoulders
Mythological Beauty
Sparrow
Cattails
Terminal Paradise
(Adrianne Lenker song)
Shark Smile
Real Love
Contact
From
(Adrianne Lenker song)
Mary
Encore:
Parallels
Cut My Hair
Rock and Sing
