On Friday, Nov. 22, Page Auditorium welcomed over 1000 people for singer-songwriter Adrianne Lenker’s “one night only show” — opened by poet and songwriter Suzanne Vallie. While Lenker was indeed there for one night only, she also performed earlier that day in response to the concert selling out all of its tickets.
Adrianne Lenker is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie-rock band Big Thief. Lenker’s music has a tenderly melancholic and deeply emotional quality, with rhythmically built, poetry-like lyrics and acoustic instrumentals. Those qualities were magnified in a live setting, with audience members seeing her melodies flow and catalyze a unique, tranquil energy in a shared space. This was perfected complemented by Vallie’s opening, who performed with an acoustic piano, a raw, folky voice and lyrics that sound like spoken poetry.
At around 9 p.m., Lenker entered the stage, performing with an acoustic guitar. The songs performed included tracks from her latest solo album, “Bright Future”, parts of Big Thief’s latest album “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You” and some of Lenker’s hits from the 2020 album “songs.” Lenker played with her trio-team – a piano, a violin/viola and a guitar – for most of the time, switching to acoustic solo guitar performance for some of her earlier works in the concert’s midsection.
Lenker sometimes rambled in her speech, and jokingly remarked that all of her songs sound similar. While her music may sound simple, with signature chords that make the rhythms all sound similar, Lenker’s soft, tender melodies require strength and mastered control over the keyboards, the violin bow and her voice.
The techniques heard during the concert are not easy: long paragraphs of overtones, acapella as background instrumentals and the softest intensity in both vocal and strings. The instrumental trio weaves together a melodic net enveloping its audience – the raw genuineness of Lenker’s music was embodied not just not in its lyrics but also in its fluorescent, picturesque notes.
In the middle of the concert, Lenker presented some of her most beautiful works, like as “Ingydar,” “My Angel,” “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You” and “Simulation Swarm” — the first two from “songs” and the latter two from “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You.” The space in Page Auditorium amplified every detail of Lenker’s acoustic guitar-solo performance.
“Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You” was a unique piece with stark contrast in its emotion and technical expression. Introduced with a somber, ambiguous mood through Lenker’s delicate tweaking of strings, the live version of this representative song exuded vulnerability with an almost breathtaking introspective energy. Throughout it, Lenker’s fragile voice directly carried the weight of that introspection and a tension between trust and loss.
Lenker utilized snapping techniques to build up the emotions in the song’s latter half, before transitioning to her next song, “Simulation Swarm.” In contrast to “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You,” “Simulation Swarm” abandoned flowery organizations and was driven by a motivic line, gradually building up intensity around its confessing lyrics.
After “Simulation Swarm,” Lenker’s team returned to the stage. The atmosphere on stage grew more upbeat and cheerful, with Lenker laughing during her performances a few times. When the band got to “Vampire Empire,” a signature track of the album “Bright Future,” the stage brimmed with affection, explicit longing and a playful outrage. During the song, Lenker invited her audience to sing along.
“Anything,” another hallmark of Lenker’s work, was softer and more ethereal while still maintaining the same level of intimacy. Lenker again invited the audience to join in the chorus, and their voices soon chanted along, audible even from the back rows. These songs transformed the song into a beautiful, conversational experience that weaved a bond between Lenker and her listeners.
As the night drew to a close, Lenker ended her set with a heartfelt encore, and the audience responded with echoing applause. A storyteller and songwriter, Lenker transformed the concert into a personal experience for every listener, with the emotions lingering long after the playing stopped — such is the power of her music.
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