Big Thief – April 24th – Bluebird Theater

Photos by Ty Hyten

Brooklyn-based indie rock group Big Thief tore through the Bluebird Theater last Tuesday evening, delivering a powerful, though at times sloppy, set of music culled from the band’s two critically-acclaimed LPs.

The sold-out crowd was mostly twenty-somethings, with a mix of younger and older fans who filled the theater in time for Big Thief’s set. The band, which had previously played Globe Hall on their last trip through Denver, thanked the audience for filling the theater on a weeknight.

“We’re so happy to be here,” singer and guitar player Adrianne Lenker said to the crowd two-thirds of the way through the band’s set. “Mind blown. A lot of people came to the show.”

The fog machines in the theater had obscured much of the stage by the time the band came on, giving the performance a dark and eerie backdrop. The crowd was attentive and respectful for the band’s set. When the foursome would drop into a quiet passage, you could hear the subtle interplay between band members that defines one aspect of the band’s sound.

An early highlight of Big Thief’s set was the band’s performance of “Real Love” from their spectacular first album, Masterpiece. The band laid into the song, delicately tiptoeing through the verses and then unleashing swings of energy in the choruses, topping it off with a feedback-laden guitar solo from the band’s eccentric guitar maestro, Buck Meek.

Later songs “Paul” and surprise crowd-favorite “Mary,” highlighted the band’s vocal harmony prowess. Meek and Lenker’s voices weaved together spectacularly as they wound through some of Lenker’s best lyrics, like “Oh and, heavens, when you looked at me / Your eyes were like machinery / Your hands were making artifacts in the corner of my mind.”

Despite some impressive parts of the performance, the band seemed slightly sloppy and out-of-sync during a few moments of the set, with Lenker forgetting song lyrics at a couple points during the show.

Following the encore break, Lenker treated the crowd to a story about buying a vintage 1957 Harmony Stratotone guitar across the street earlier that day. “Now I have $5 left in my bank account,” Lenker said – drawing some laughs from the crowd – before playing a solo song and then leading the band to the end of their set with a performance of “Parallels.”

Supporting Big Thief before the show was Fort Collins-based Whippoorwill who warmed up the crowd with a collection of Folk songs that traded off vocal duties between singers Alysia Kraft and Staci Foster, while drummer Tobias Bank filled in the third part of the vocal harmonies. The trio’s songs swayed between boot-stomping country-rock and slow folk ballads, and were elevated by Foster’s tasteful-but-simple banjo work and Bank’s solid rhythm. The local group thanked the audience for making out early to the show and said they’ll be back to the Hi-Dive in Denver later this month.