NIGHT ONE OF TWO LA GIGS FEATURED ABSOLUTE SHREDDING

Big Thief is a group of elite musicians that continue to grow in the best ways possible, while acknowledging their flaws as humans and using that to create beautiful tapestries of song. There is no other way to put it. I was lucky enough to finally catch them on tour last year as COVID began to ease. The venue was sort of shitty, and there was this really annoying fan that made the band uncomfortable with his shouting of nonsense. However, that didn’t take much away from the body-vibrating licks of Adrianne Lenker and co.

This time around, I was notified sort of last minute and while going through a move, but I had to make time. I showed up later that expected, and caught opener Tucker Zimmerman saying his closing remarks. The audience seemed into it, so that was a nice change for once, as most openers get no love when they deserve so much. I waited in the arch walkway that I hate since it’s terribly far away from the stage. You get accustomed to being close right in front of the mic stand, but the Wiltern opts out for added security and their servers. Anyways, the lights went out and me and one other photographer got settled as Big Thief made their way on stage.

The entire show went by so quickly, with the intensity of Lenker and Buck Meek playing off one another. Classics like “Masterpiece” and “Real Love” began the set, with the audience showing much appreciation for the older cuts. One of my favorites, “Shoulders” started as I left my post for photos. “IT’S IN ME IT’S IN ME IN MY VEINS,” exclaimed Lenker eyes closed mouth wide open. All these tracks are emotional, and can guarantee tears. Near the middle of the show, they played the title track of their latest LP, and the live version is so much superior to the recorded one. The world got a taste of the song live before anything, and the drums along with the pulsating guitars were more abrasive as opposed to the soothing album version. It was something I thought about ever since my first experience, and the cherry on top followed with hard-hitter “Not.” Lenker dove into the music head first, facing her back towards the audience and creating this band jam, as if they were playing in the KEXP studio.

There are a lot of people out there who claim folk music is boring and choose Joe Rogan over fabled heroes like Neil Young, but Big Thief are on the forefront of not only strong folk genre-bending music, but powerful songwriting, and accompanying guitar solos that added three or four minutes to each track. Bless Big Thief. Check out the set list here!