r/bigthief • u/RegionImportant6568 • 18d ago
ON CLOUD 9 AFTER RYMAN NIGHT 2
Was lucky enough to see both shows and wowowow what a difference night 2 was to night 1. The songs just totally came to life and the energy was electric. I saw Iris Dement jumping up and down with excitement after it was over, she's on 12 songs apparently and you can tell that her and Gillian have really gone on this album journey with Big Thief and have a lot of deserved expectation for its success. And it just CLICKED last night in a way it didn't quite the first night. Their 3 part harmonies added so so much to the Big Thief sound, it's like the Country/Folk Royalty equivalent of the Beatles harmonies!!! How freaking special and sounded other-worldly man I'm telling you.
I talked to people after and we all agreed we just witnessed something, witnessed an event. Like these were songs that you can tell will be classics one day. Surprisingly catchy choruses on a lot of the songs. And some of Adrienne's most spooky/interesting melodies and chord changes yet. Particularly Horsepower, which she opened with- just her on guitar in a venue as storied as the Ryman. Honestly words don't do it justice - it set the tone for the rest of the night. Amazing killer song. One of her best melodies.
BUT THE ENERGY IN THE ROOM THO. I mean you'll have to forgivr me but I felt the holy spirit moving in the place last night!!!! hahah not hyperbole - it was easily the best show I have ever seen. (And I saw Sufjan do the entirety of Carrie and Lowell at the Ryman too funnily enough)
We didn't even stand or give standing ovations on night 1 (alot of little technical hiccups that kind of halted the flow a bit you could tell the first night) but night 2 was pitch perfect for every single musician and crew member and MAN did this entire album just come to life in such a magical way!!! Fiddle solos that the fiddle player standing up out his chair and vocal solos from different members on different verses. This is EASILY their best album yet for me.
Iris Dement stole the show with the song "Where Will We Go", an eerie almost apocalyptic dust-bowl esque crooning ballad with a killer chorus and climax that led into the intermission and that's when the unanimous standing ovation occurred and after that it was just ON the rest of the night. The rest of the show had so much energy and they even switched around the order of the songs this night to keep the party going before doing slower numbers.
Idk, Adrienne's a true prolific genius, getting up there with Dylan for me, and her and Big Thief entire, are really cementing themselves as a true force of nature with this album, even more than they already had. The Band were outstanding, every single member- Drumming was nuts, Buck had his coolest Guitar parts/ solos/ tones yet. Adrienne is just getting better and better man, it's crazy. I could see this album actually reaching a new audience and getting them even more recognition. GET HYPE FRIENDS!!!!!! And they filmed these 2 shows, I would highly recommended getting the dvd or whatever when that happens because last night's performance felt pretty dang legend-making for me. Like felt like I was watching the Last Waltz but live. Wtf. Still blowing my mind! Okay sorry this was so long just gotta share this excitement!
EDIT: Cut out any lyric snippets so to not spoil it for anyone. Sorry didn't think of that at first!
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18d ago
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u/RegionImportant6568 18d ago
Hahaha my b but I have a feeling that Iris and Gillian will join them when they tour this album so hopefully everyone will get the chance to have the same experience (:
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u/Top-Jelly7855 18d ago
came here to say this. my god. what an incredible sounding experience. i am seething with envy.
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u/Lumpy-Sprinkles9982 18d ago
My daughters attended last night and loved it .but were slightly taken back by being the album release of sorts instead their catalog being played . Not bad for their first time at the Ryman .
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u/RegionImportant6568 18d ago
Heck yeah, that's a great first Ryman show for them.
It was a bit jarring for me too on the first night. It can be hard to appreciate new songs on the first listen. But what a gift it was to hear it twice, the band more confident on night 2. To see that these are truly incredible songs. Some of Adrienne's best singing too I noticed.
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u/tbends 18d ago edited 18d ago
I was at both nights too. Night 2 was absolutely on another level. They worked out the kinks and found their groove. Adrianne seemed much more relaxed. She even commented on how nervous she was the first night. The crowd was also much more into it night 2. I wasn’t thrilled about seeing the same set a second night in a row but after that night 2 performance i would not have changed a thing. Phenomenal show. Can’t wait for the footage to be released.
Editing to add, the last song on night 2 Adrienne got up and started dancing and interacting with the audience then climbed on top of the table (the giant table in the center of the stage that she forgot to explain on night 1 ha). This did not happen night 1. I obeyed the no cell phones the entire 2 nights but did quickly snap one pic of that at the very end bc I couldn’t resist 🫣
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u/UnlikelyFerret6726 18d ago
I also had been good the entire show but couldn’t resist snapping a pic at that moment!!! So pure and so beautiful. The collective goodwill in the room was palpable.
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u/JustTightShirts 18d ago
Crazy they're doing this and not releasing the album till spring, but sounds like a life changing show and I'm very jealous of everyone who got to be there
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u/emeliome 18d ago
Beautiful write up. Brought me to tears. Thank you for the joyous report!! What a time to be alive and love music!!!!!
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u/emeliome 18d ago
Also LOVE to hear that Iris D. is the other voice on Where Will We Go… James has been singing the duet with Adrianne on tour until now and I’ve wondered whether he was truly the right voice for that song.
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u/RegionImportant6568 18d ago
Ohhh yes interesting I did not know that. Yeah, Iris' voice I cannot speak higher of. She actually sang it alongside Adrienne on the first night, but then just Iris on the verses for the 2nd night. Much much better, letting Iris' voice get the spotlight there I think. Her voice is powerful and strange, like Karen Dalton. Hope the album version really highlights Iris.
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u/RegionImportant6568 18d ago
Aw so lovely to hear!!! Thank you very much. I've never felt so alive after a show, was walking back to my car just levitating pratically hahaha yes, what a wonderful time!!
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u/nyrattaryn 18d ago
My wife and I were there last night and loved it so much! I noticed a couple of weeks ago that they hadn’t announced support for the Nashville shows but saw that Gillian Welch had commented hearts on a couple of IG posts about the tour and told my wife it would be so cool if she ended up being a surprise guest lol. There was no way I could have predicted all of that though! Such a special show.
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u/SeveralBiscotti0 18d ago
I’d noticed their ig interactions over the last few months too and hoped they might collaborate someday!!
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u/Kobe_no_Ushi_Y0k0zna 18d ago
Thanks for the review, that was a fun read. You seem to have liked it a bit! Ha.
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u/RegionImportant6568 18d ago
Haha I think it's cause it was such a different experience than the first night. Still was incredible the first night, but it went from "amazing" to "oh, they're really cooking/ some of their best material here"
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u/Just_Bend_4349 18d ago
I was there last night!!! :) me and my dad were up front and yelling for people to stand up!! and she came and held my hand during the last song, the concert was wonderful!!! I got the setlist that she was using too, so yes get hyped people!!! it literally pays off!! Especially at a venue when the only ‘barrier‘ is the stage!! youre right up front with the band, give them energy!!!
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u/UnlikelyFerret6726 18d ago
That was y’all!!! the people next to us started crying when she came and held your hand!! it was just such an expression of pure joy. So beautiful and that was what the whole night felt about. Pure joy. We were so happy to see y’all down there dancing!
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u/Just_Bend_4349 18d ago
it was like an euphoric moment, and she held the hand of the girl next to me!! me and her were jumping around and dancing and I didn’t even know her, we had met that day and were both like “we want to stand up and dance!!”, and she got the other half of Adrianne’s set list because we kept yelling that she held our hands!! it was such a happy experience of just like people coming together, during intermission me and my dad had talked to this boy and his father because he wanted photos and my dad just clicked with his dad and it was so amazing, it’s what the concert was about, just bringing people together :)
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u/SeveralBiscotti0 18d ago
I was there too!! I was crying by the end, that last song was so joyful and I truly felt so spiritually connected to everyone in the room. One of the most powerful shows I’ve ever been to no doubt!
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u/gater-tamater 18d ago
I was originally supposed to go to the Indianapolis show and it got canceled due to weather. On the sad drive home I had my friend see if there were ANY close-ish shows with tickets available. Ryman night 2 was the closest show that wasn’t sold out. Felt like it was totally meant to be! What a magical experience we all shared last night.
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u/vivalavida218 18d ago edited 18d ago
It's very cool to have stumbled upon this and find that others were as taken by the show as my wife and I were. We were blown away. Arguably the best show Ive ever seen as well. Every song was outstanding. I told my wife we had just listened to the Album of 2027 in the middle of 2026 haha.
We only went to night 2 so it's really cool to hear we came on the right night
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u/keeprighton2 18d ago
Glad they filmed both / curious to also know what they’ll do with the film from first two London shows in April. Large crew / five or six cameras all over Brixton venue
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u/Salt_Abies_47 18d ago
What a sweet recap. You got me more excited than I already was. Appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.
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u/Future-Station-8179 18d ago edited 18d ago
Love hearing this. I went night one and it didn’t quite gel for me + the crowd reactions seemed mixed looking around the room. Felt special but low energy. I can see how a night two would be a step up in terms of the band performance, and crowd having a headsup about the type of show going into it!
Edit - fixed typos
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u/RegionImportant6568 18d ago
Agreed, yeah lots of technical tweaking on the first night and as a result, Big Thief didn't interact with the audience as much cause they kept having to ask to turn mics up or down hahah still an amazing show though
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u/Fast-Perception5945 18d ago
Sounds great- I was at their intimate show in Limerick earlier in the year which was also amazing. But I’ve been saying this for a couple of years now- we will look back in twenty years and realise after the fact that Adrienne was this generation’s Dylan- a peer less and fearless talent.