Big Thief Debut Surprise New Triple Album Horsepower With Special Guests At The Ryman

Adrianne Lenker wasted no time in telling 2,400 Big Thief fans this was not, in fact, the show they expected to see. “We have a special night for you,” she said as Big Thief took seats around a large wooden table onstage, then quipped: “If you had hopes of hearing songs you know, those can be discarded.” Instead, Lenker matter-of-factly explained that Big Thief had convened in Nashville in May to record a triple album called Horsepower. She didn’t divulge any release details, but suddenly the weekend’s shows at Nashville’s hallowed Ryman Auditorium were something else entirely: The band and various guests playing through the whole 29-song album, in a sprawling three-hour show, filmed for future release. This was something even by Big Thief’s prolific and free-spirited standards — shows often feature forthcoming/unreleased material; in 2019 I saw them two days after they released the massively acclaimed U.F.O.F. but half the setlist was songs from the then-secret sister album Two Hands. Big Thief played 29 songs last night, and save for a few that have themselves been previewed in recent shows, almost everyone was in for the ride together. Big Thief fans are devout. The atmosphere w...