“I’m going to be honest, I have no idea how long we’ve been up here,” Big Thief frontwoman Adrianne Lenker told a sold-out crowd well into Big Thief’s set at The Sylvee Friday night.
By then, the show had evolved into something no one had planned for. Technical difficulties early on forced the band to improvise, turning what could have been a frustrating setback into a truly special performance — one that showcased the intimate, unpredictable alchemy that has set Big Thief apart and drawn a multi-generational fanbase.
Instead of fighting the circumstances, Lenker seemed to surrender to them, allowing the songs to dictate where the night would go next. The Madison show, a stop on the band’s 25-city North American leg of the Somersault Slide 360tour, ultimately stretched into a 2-hour, 20-minute set spanning 23 songs.
In its own way, it was a fitting set for a band that thrives on finding beauty in the mess. Formed in Brooklyn in 2015, Big Thief has released six studio albums in just over a decade, building a catalog that has grown alongside the band’s evolving sound. Lenker, guitarist Buck Meek and drummer James Krivchenia have also maintained prolific solo careers in that time, with their individual work giving the band an even deeper well of material to draw from during live performances…