Big Thief @ The Sylvee
Words by James Norcross, Photos by Bailey Krause
Halfway through their sold-out show at The Sylvee on Aug. 14, Big Thief huddled together like a sports team at halftime. Technical difficulties were forcing the band to deliver a more stripped-back setlist. They began with a never-before-heard acoustic rendition of “Not.” As frontwoman Adrianne Lenker played high up the neck for the song’s three-minute-long solo, the creaks of the acoustic were on full display, but these imperfections were not a fault of the show — this adaptation is exactly why after over a decade of being a band, Big Thief holds a special place in the world of indie rock.
During the Madison stop of their Somersault 360 Tour, the indie rock band played a nearly two-and-a-half-hour-long set, yet it never dragged on. With six albums to draw from, the band mixed hits and deep cuts to put on a show that could please every fan in the audience. Though in recent years their produced work has veered into a more experimental, psychedelic soundscape, renditions of their newer songs brought back the louder, alt-country sound that garnered them their dedicated audience.
Lenker has helped captivate and cultivate an audience over the years with her universal yet personal songwriting, proven by the choir of fans that sang along to nearly every song. The loudest example of this was during their performance of their 2023 hit, “Vampire Empire,” which was played twice to let the audience scream the words the second time around.
An unexpected highlight of the show was a performance of “Spud Infinity,” a deep cut from their 2022 double album, “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You.” As Joshua Crumbly brought out his upright bass and Lenker sang about garlic bread and accepting your inner alien, the surrounding audience members began to dance to the country-folk tune as if Lenker had cast a lyrical spell on the audience to free their “celestial bodies.”
Big Thief is no stranger to change; they even have a song about it. After over a decade of performing as a four-piece, bassist Max Oleartchik left the band in 2024 for interpersonal reasons. Despite this, Big Thief refuses to remain stagnant. Now joined on stage with Crumbly on bass, the band reimagined the arrangements of their discography, including some of Lenker’s solo work. The dreamy shuffle that carries their track “Incomprehensible” was replaced by a slower tempo jam reminiscent of their early work as the crowd sang along to Lenker’s excitement to grow old, even if society preaches otherwise.
As the evening grew late and the band left the stage, the audience cheered Big Thief back on for an encore with an unreleased song and a performance of Lenker’s song, “anything.” In a cross-generational crowd, from high schoolers to grandparents, Lenker’s words clearly brought back a memory for every person in the room.
