Big Thief + Mess Esque @ The Forum 24-11-22
Review
“Adrianne brings that magic hour at dawn to life, like she’s in that friends’ lounge room, lulling the last drunken stragglers, glassy eyes on the horizon, into limp comfort.”
Big Thief is and always has been a band that doesn’t bend to passing trends. Since their inception, they’ve simply developed their timeless magic by giving the music and each other a gift that can’t be bought - dedicated time.
For the release of their 5th album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, Big Thief transformed The Forum - where the word ‘grandiosity’ comes to mind as the ideal adjective - into a friends’ lounge room, post-party at dawn. Since their debut tour of Australia in 2017, the US four-piece continues to collect loyal fans, now selling out two Forum shows, who stay and grow as their music does.
Mess Esque - made up of Dirty Three guitarist Mick Turner and Helen Franzmann open the show to a near-full Forum. The audience are in fact a part of any performance, no matter what the size and it only takes a couple of groups of people chatting for many others to follow suit. With Mess Esque’s already dreamy, but slightly lethargic sound, full of meandering guitar lines and haunting, repetitive vocals, as well as the time and place, perhaps their magic was lost on the majority of the Thursday night catch ups that unfortunately was the more audible, dynamic sound in the room for their set.
For the release of their 5th album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, Big Thief transformed The Forum - where the word ‘grandiosity’ comes to mind as the ideal adjective - into a friends’ lounge room, post-party at dawn. Since their debut tour of Australia in 2017, the US four-piece continues to collect loyal fans, now selling out two Forum shows, who stay and grow as their music does.
When Big Thief step out onto the stage, their places are set up in a shallow arc so that they’re all slightly playing towards each other, subtly encouraging the audience to lean in. Adrianne opens the set solo. She’s on the far left of the stage. With just her voice and acoustic guitar, Adrianne brings that magic hour at dawn to life, like she’s in that friends’ lounge room, lulling the last drunken stragglers, glassy eyes on the horizon, into limp comfort. Hearts heavy and all the while, content with Adrianne’s heart-breakingly honest lyrics and hypnotically complex guitar tuning and finger-picking styles.
By the time they play ‘Simulation Swarm’ in the middle of the set, it’s clear they play like they’ve practised feeling free in music. Buck Meek fights to tame his guitar while Adrianne lets her guitar and effects pedals take the reins. Her guitar solo for the outro of ‘Not’ transcends beyond reservation and insecurity. And then just as sincerely, she says to us, “I can’t believe we flew all the way here and that you’re here and that we’re here.” The crowd, putty in their hands, once again.
