Big Thief is a band that has a great deal of sentimental value to me. Whenever I put on Masterpiece in my car for the 50th time, I drown in this almost autumnal feeling that doesn’t come by me often these days; of the end of summer and monsoon seasons and flannels and hornbill and other warm, somewhat kitschy things. More than anything else, Big Thief is the sort of band that I know I would have loved in my high schooler indie sleeze days, yet one that I’m still glad came into my life at a very specific moment in time. It’s somewhat off the beaten path of what I tend to listen to nowadays, but I had the privilege of falling back in love with them this past summer while on a road trip with one of my best friends. Their music lends itself to such experiences; I highly recommend it.
As such, I practically jumped at the opportunity to cover them for KAMP when I heard they were coming around as part of their Somersault Slide 360 Tour. The Phoenix date just so happened to align itself with my birthday this year, call it happenstance or destiny or what you will. Some slight hiccups in my scheduling meant that I ended up carpooling with some dear friends of mine to the show in exchange for missing a 3PM class—but if anyone’s looking for an excuse to skip a class to go to a show, this is me telling you that it will always be worth it.
I’m not usually given to larger concerts—the last stadium concert I’ve been to was probably Le Tigre, three years ago in Los Angeles—so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect of the Arizona Financial Theatre. Suffice to say, I was pleasantly surprised at how professionally this venue was run; my rather large group of friends flew through security and were able to be seated in the span of maybe fifteen minutes. It was as lovely of an experience I would hope to have with a larger venue.
I can’t say I had nearly the same impression from the opener, a band by the name of Porches. I should preface this by saying that I completely respect my colleagues at KAMP who actually do enjoy this band. I’m sure that Porches is perfectly enjoyable in their own right, preferably far away from this concert. Personally, I think it is latently homophobic to have a male singer-songwriter with a bands, an acoustic guitar and a laptop full of poorly-devised backing tracks opening for Big Thief of all artists. The lead singer was supposedly performing without his full band, which I’m choosing to believe made his set worse off than it otherwise would be. All of my friends were of the same opinion; in the words of a friend, it was akin to someone “having their dick out at a lesbian party.”
If I had to guess, either a record label or a touring agency was behind this choice of opener, which—if the lethargic mood of the crowd was anything to judge by—probably did not do anyone any favors. Porches had this rather conceited, phony nonchalant energy around him that killed whatever energy was in the room, and that was just in between his songs that seem custom-made for GRWM posts on Reels. To give the band some credit, it did make Big Thief and especially Adrianne Lenker’s songwriting all the more enjoyable in comparison.
There isn’t any praise I could give to Big Thief that hasn’t been written a hundred times over by writers much more qualified and accomplished than me. More than anything else, seeing this band for the first time—up close, on my birthday, surrounded by some of the most important people in my life—was an ethereal experience that words fail me in describing. Adrianne Lenker, in a much welcome contrast from Porches, has this diffident, self-effacing quality to her personality that compliments her lyricism. It had this disarming effect that I figure most of the audience resonates with; there was a particularly endearing moment where she began to remove one of her tank tops, only to stop and explain that she layered them in the first place because of a minor stain.
The breadth of Big Thief’s setlist was their newer works, namely songs from Double Infinity and Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You. Truth be told, I hadn’t listened nearly as much of the former before going into this show, but I was left with a newfound appreciation for it. It’s rather far from my favorite of their albums, and I don’t think the change in sound is to everyone’s taste, but I’ve had it on repeat this past month. If anything, the crisper production and psychedelic sound makes for a good few opening tracks.
For want of sounding overly fawning or sentimental towards Big Thief, my one big criticism is that the setlist for this specific date caught me and my friends rather off-guard. There were a couple of Lenker’s solo songs peppered throughout—namely “anything” and “Real House”, the latter of which I’m told is a deep cut—which left the rest of the band standing quietly to the side as she took center stage. I’m not necessarily opposed to this—Lenker is undoubtedly the face of this band, after all—but as someone who is more of a fan of Big Thief than of Lenker’s solo work, I was left wanting. As someone who got into Big Thief through (and personally prefers) their first two albums, I was left a little wanting. Throw in some B-sides like “Flower of Blood” (which is one of my favorite songs of theirs, and one I was not expecting to hear) and the result was a concert that I almost wish had gone on for another hour, for reasons both good and bad.
Still, I’m honored I had the opportunity to experience this band for the first time, especially with the people around me. Aside from “Flower of Blood”, other highlights were “Not”, “Vampire Empire” and the encore’s “Incomprehensible.” If I could draw a common thread between these songs, it would be how beautifully Lenker renders intimacy in all of its angst and candor. I wish I could relive learning about her music from—who else?—someone I was in love with once all over again.