Big Thief review: Adrianne Lenker and co steal the show at Dolans in Limerick
Big Thief at Dolans in Limerick.
★★★★☆
Big Thief are more than 10 years into their career, six critically acclaimed albums under their belt alongside myriad beloved solo projects, and frontwoman Adrianne Lenker, 34, worshipped as one of the songwriters of her generation.
They’re fresh off a sold-out four-night stint at London’s 5,000-capacity Brixton Academy, are one of the main-stage draws of summer festivals, yet haven’t quite reached superstar-level headliner status yet. For example, on Wednesday they play Dublin’s 3Arena, which isn't yet sold out - that’s an indictment of a lack of a mid-size venue in the capital than anything else though.
Big Thief seem like a band happier operating just below that level - retaining the intimacy and looseness that has defined them from the start, where the songs can stretch, shift, and breathe without the pressure of becoming a full-blown mainstream spectacle.
On Tuesday, they played Dolans Warehouse in Limerick, announced a week earlier, with all 500 or so tickets selling out in about two minutes. “It’s like a Bruce Springsteen set over here,” says Adrianne Lenker near the end of their 160-minute, 29-song show - the longest of the tour.
It opens with fan favourite a statement of intent, as they whirl through country, pop, indie, acoustic and heavy rock numbers with ease. It looks effortless for Lenker, whose every mannerism and lyric demand attention.
Completed by Buck Meek (Lenker’s ex-husband), drummer/producer James Krivchenia, and touring bassist Joshua Crumbly, they share glances, laughs and reassuring looks like family members. There are a couple of mistakes and fumbled lyrics - “It’s been that kinda day” - but things are never less than spellbinding. That includes one new song where she was expecting a guitar solo from Meek but fills in by adlibbing it with her voice. And it works!
The gentle (“I could never build the ether or the grass overgrown”) followed by Lenker solo track is a beautiful double hit, so delicate and vulnerable. one of a couple tracks off their 2016 debut features the first of a number of guitars solos on the night.
sees Lenker smiling at the singalong; it’s perhaps their closest thing to a hit. But then, Lenker has a song for everyone to latch onto depending on what they’re feeling. “I can live in this world and forgive this world,” she sings on new song Elsewhere she’s proclaiming, “That’s my grandma!” on the do-si-do of .
There are a number of new songs played, from the very country duet of to the post-punk and the almost metal “It’s always daunting to play new songs,” admits Lenker, “but it’s fun too ‘cause it keeps us on our toes.”
They had spent a couple of hours that day hiking around Moylussa in Clare and feel free and easygoing. They ask what the audience would prefer between and - and then proceed to give us both. The former is the standout from 2025’s arriving as if we’ve walked in on the band mid-jam. Not, from 2019’s is similar, building from a long intro, though it seems to oddly lack heft live.
It’s a mesmerising performance. Lenker remains the focal point throughout, disarming and devastating. The band seem like they’re having fun too. Lenker comments on the stage being the perfect distance from those on the ground floor and the watchers-on in the balcony. It’s apt for Big Thief themselves - not quite at the pinnacle yet, but happy in that in-between, intimate space.
