SHOW REVIEW: Adrianne Lenker
THE UNITED THEATER ON BROADWAY | LOS ANGELES, CA | JUNE 15, 2024 | BY TABITA BERNARDUS
Last Saturday evening, the only place that mattered was The United Theater on Broadway, where Adrianne Lenker played her first out of two Los Angeles dates on the Bright Future tour run.
The Spanish Gothic-style venue seats 1,600 and is adorned with intricate murals and molding– a space as open and sacred as what Lenker’s performance would emulate for the next hour. The evening’s setup consisted of a central chair with two acoustic guitars, accompanied by two other chairs on either side– one in front of a piano and one near two sets of violins.
The Big Thief singer and songwriter shuffled onto the stage with a profound gentleness that I think everyone in the room felt. She established the tone for her set by beginning with “The Only Place” and “Simulation Swarm” from the Big Thief discography, along with “my angel” from her 2020 album songs. Her voice immediately floated like driftwood, evoking a keen urge to be sprawled in an open meadow where the air is fresh, the grass is green, and the winding roads being taken lead to nowhere forever.
Her hand-picking was quick and never off, and her vocal delivery was cutting and precise, yet soulful and spontaneous to whatever she was feeling at that particular moment. Lenker moved at her own pace in between songs, taking the time to breathe and sip some water before diving into the next one. In turn, the audience sat with her in comfortable silence during these momentary pauses– an interaction between listener and performer that felt communal and rare nowadays. It was as if everyone silently shared an understanding to respect Lenker’s generosity in lending her time and artistry. Even when she fiddled with her tuning, I felt inclined to hold my breath so that not a second of such a simple act was missed. There was never a shortage of excitement throughout the night, however, as expressive hollers and whistles filled the few seconds before and after songs.
Lenker’s execution of “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You” was warmly intimate, as her fist thumped against the guitar’s body with each strum to bring a fullness to the solo rendition. Its echoes filled every crevice of the room as she crooned “It’s a little bit magic / Like a river of morning geese”– a statement that couldn’t be more fitting for the evening.
LA was treated with a handful of surprises, with Lenker welcoming Steve Fisher as the first guest of the night: “We have been playing shows together since Austin. So that was– I don’t know how long. Few days, few months? I can’t tell. But I asked him to please play some of his own songs” said Lenker. “It’s been the honor of a lifetime for me,” Fisher gushed in response. There was an evident, deep appreciation between the two as Lenker sat beside him during his short set, her eyes closed as she mouthed his lyrics.
Shortly after Fisher’s exit, Lenker was joined by another guest– this time her fellow Big Thief band member Buck Meek who opened for her earlier in the evening. Both with acoustics in hand, they performed “Certainty” and “Wait A While,” two tracks they had written together for the band. Their voices seamlessly joined together like pieces of a puzzle, naturally. It was one of the most deeply moving portions of the set, the pair’s loving appreciation for one another palpable in their fluidity as performers.
“There’s so many chapters, and I’m just about cried out after Buck’s set, and Steven’s. Just gotta drink a lot of water to replenish some of the tears that were lost,” Lenker commented once she was back alone on stage. As the last section of the set crept up, Lenker revealed one last surprise: “Now is the part of the show where Larry comes out and sings a silly song,” she joked. “That was definitely on a lot when I was growing up. Actually, now is the part of the show where I have the pleasure of introducing two of my favorite musicians who are just joining me. This is our first show together on this run. We play on my album Bright Future– Josefin Runsteen and Nick Hakim.”
Together, the trio brought a haunting twinkle to the desires in “not a lot, just forever” and “Donut Seam,” with the intertwining of keys, violin, and acoustic guitar bringing new, living breath to the tracks. Their chemistry was solid and balanced, a connection built off of creating Lenker’s most recent record together. She even made space for an unreleased song from Bright Future: “This is the title track of the album that didn’t end up making it onto the album. But it’s on the album in my heart” said Lenker before singing its opening lines “Summer rain falling / Wind through the eye of the tunnel.”
With “anything” and “Time Escaping” marking the end of a lovely night, Lenker rightfully received a standing ovation.
The dichotomy of Lenker’s simple setup against a vast room brought forth a sense of grandness in simplicity– a decision that did not take away from her performance but rather enhanced its intimacy. Similar to flipping through a storybook, Lenker’s illustrative, confiding lyrics and live arrangements generously allowed the audience to peek into these slivers of her life, which she referred to as “chapters” a few times during the night, in a way that felt familiar to our own. From her delivery of “Mango in your mouth, juice dripping” to “Water like a washing machine,” if she sang it, you simply felt it without question. Every pluck and hum felt intentionally placed, and it was touching to see how moved Lenker was by all of it.
Adrianne Lenker is truly one of the greatest, and it was a privilege to experience tangible sunlight from her performance.