After a busy bus, a rescue remedy and a co-incidental run in with friends, I finally made it inside the infamous O2 Brixton, who were hosting Big Thief for a four-night sold-out residency. The venue itself is beautiful, with paintings and arches galore, opening to a wide stage, adorned with rugs and instruments. Watching the intimate scene unfold was around 5,000 people, a stark contrast to Big Thief’s previous headline residency at O2 Shepard’s Bush, which holds around 2,000 people.
Their rise to fame wasn’t overnight. Hits like ‘Vampire Empire’, ‘Paul’ and ‘Not’, credited to Lenker’s raw delivery of the lyrics, led them to grow a loyal and supportive fanbase. ‘Double Infinity’ is their latest offering, with smooth lyrics about aging, grandmothers, and the limitations of words, the band truly sticks to All Music’s description of “folk-tinged indie rock”.
However, the Summersault Slide 360 tour was not just focused on their new music, but included tracks from Capacity, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, and Two Hands. Perhaps the most gut-wrenching part of the entire experience is also Lenker’s willingness to play her own solo songs, with ‘anything’ and ‘Real House’ making an appearance at Brixton. It’s clear that the music truly touches so many of their fans, a hushed quiet descending over the audience like the blanket of smoke slowly bellowing out from off stage. Laraaji joins the band for several of their songs early on, after providing a soothing environmental soundscape; bird sounds accompanied by his melodic singing. It’s obvious when you hear him, why Big Thief had him feature on their song ‘Grandmother’, giving the song a deeply powerful, personal touch.
The setlist was a mix of released and un-released tracks. While five songs were unreleased, an atmosphere of anticipation and patience surrounded the songs, especially ‘These Are the Days’, – rumoured to be about Meek (lead guitar) and Lenker’s perpetual love for each other, even after their divorce. Although the setlist differed night to night, (Simulation Swarm was originally listed as Double Infinity), mimicking their endless adaptation and evolution, their core songs stand as a testament to not only their musical growth, but their dedication to their fans.
My cousin, her girlfriend and I were stood next to the sound desk and spotted three cameras dotted around the venue, giving us hope that the residency would be recorded and preserved, so that fans could enjoy the concert experience after the event, or from the comfort of their own home.
The bands gratitude and genuine love for performing is shown with Lenker repeating the whole bands gratitude for the warm welcome back to London and emphasising that we all had “sweet hearts”. It is also clear through the passion they put into their performance. Krivchenia’s crashing symbols mixed with Meek’s physical movement as he strums on his guitar, Crumbly’s precision bass playing and Lenker’s insane riffs all come together to make something truly magical.
‘What do you yearn for? Where do you long to be?’ is the defining lyric in their final song of the night, ‘Red Moon’. Laraaji, Dylan Meek, and Noah Lenker all joined the band with a melodica, a jaw harp and a gong to finish the song in a family style, elongated, country-type jumble that sounded a lot like something we as a people crave in an increasingly disconnected society.
After they all took their bows, an eruption of chatter filled the venue, most commenting on what a life altering experience they had, and I have to agree. Even as a fan of Big Thief for six years, there is always a worry that they won’t be exactly how you imagined, and in all honesty, they weren’t. But they were exactly what they needed to be in that moment, and that’s what made them special. Big Thief is completely authentic, which is why there is no promise to deliver in their performance; it’s purely human.
When Adrienne asked, ‘Where do you long to be?’, I knew it was in the O2 Brixton, with my favourite cousin, listening to songs that have led me down so many incredible paths, crying because everything is so incomprehensible, and so human. Big Thief is a band that will make you re-evaluate how you approach the human experience, a song for every emotion, and a silver lining for every dark cloud.
You can catch the last few tickets for the Somersault Slide 360 tour at the Factory International for Big Thief’s truly celebratory performance on the 27th and 28th of May.
