At 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 3, Tulsa’s historic Cain’s Ballroom was nearly full. Fans in their teens and twenties wearing eyeliner and camo pants packed tightly together between portraits of famous country musicians. Words inscribed above the stage reminded everyone that they were standing in the “Home of Bob Wills.”
The crowd began to cheer as the show’s opener walked on stage. Lomelda—the stage name of Hannah Read—was exceedingly casual, sporting a Golden State Warriors sweatshirt and hardly addressing the crowd. Less casual was her accompaniment, which included a violin and harmonium among other instruments more typically seen in indie bands. Her sound was ambient, with evident folk influence. It was gentler than the songs about to be played by Big Thief, but equally as lyrically reflective.
After a short break between sets, it was time for Big Thief to take the stage.
The audience cheered ecstatically as Adrienne Lenker calmly walked on stage. Drummer James Krivchenia and bassist Joshua Crumbly followed. Last was guitarist Buck Meek, looking like one of Bob Wills’ own Texas Play Boys in his black slacks, white button down shirt and black tie. His perhaps accidental homage to the “Home of Bob Wills” made me laugh just enough to forget how sardine-like the audience had become.
The band began with “Vampire Empire,” an upbeat yet stripped back single released between their fifth and sixth albums. The audience shouted along, imitating Lenker’s passionate singing.
Big Thief, who gained popularity as an indie-folk band in the late 2010s, is largely known for their poetic lyrics and folk sound. But, their choice to open with “Vampire Empire” clarified one thing: Big Thief is also a rock band.
They jumped between songs from their older albums, maintaining the audience’s unwavering attention with rock instrumentals, lyrical vocals, and clear joy for playing their music. As they performed, the cavern of white cement behind them filled up with purple and red light. The lighting seemed a simple stage feature when other bands concern themselves with projections and pyrotechnics. Big Thief didn’t even have their band name written on their drumset, and yet nothing was missing. The simplicity forced us to fixate on the music with an intensity that seemed both obvious and rare.
As the band finished a song from their fifth album, Lenker smiled and softly said, “This is one of my favorite venues to play.” It was one of her first times addressing the audience.
Big Thief came to Tulsa as a part of their Somersault Slide 360 Tour, which followed the release of their sixth studio album, “Double Infinity.” The concert, however, was a masterful tour of their entire discography. More songs were played from their 2022 album, “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You,” than “Double Infinity.”
Still, the three songs they played from their newest album held their own weight in the setlist. The group was shrouded in deep pink light as they performed the record’s opening track, “Incomprehensible.” As Lenker approached the sixth verse, it was one of the only moments throughout the concert where almost no one sang along. Rather, it felt as if the audience was holding its breath, eager to hear Lenker sing: “My mother and my grandma, my great-grandmother too / Wrinkle like the river, sweeten like the dew / And as silver as the rainbow scales that shimmer purple blue / How can beauty that is living be anything but true?”
As she faded into the chorus, light from the disco ball above the audience glistened slowly over Lenker. For a split second, it looked like a scene from a high school dance, with the timeless hardwood floors and barn-like structure of Cain’s resembling a classic American gymnasium. It made the performance seem simultaneously eternal yet fleeting, an appropriate duality for a song about the joy and complexity of aging.
Big Thief played with the confidence and ease of a band that had clearly carved its own niche in the music industry. While each member of the band mostly stood in the same spot and their commentary was few and far between, they acknowledged the audience through their evident love for their music. Despite the simplicity, Big Thief’s presence felt anything but minimal.
Their encore consisted of four songs. By this point, my feet were starting to hurt from standing for almost two hours. But, I was not wishing the evening to end, and neither was anyone around me.
The last song of the night was Anything, a song off of Lenker’s acclaimed solo album “songs.” Lenker began playing, but paused after a few notes. “I wasn’t planning on playing this one tonight,” she laughed as she restarted the riff.
As the bittersweet love song filled the room, people in the more spacious parts of the crowd began to dance. It felt like a celebration of a night well spent. After all, how often do you experience two full hours of live music accompanied by nothing but the passion and joy of the band?
This article appears in Nov 26 2025.