When I initially heard that Noname would be opening for Big Thief for the Hollywood Bowl stop of their ‘Somersault Slide 360’ tour, I was delightfully surprised, aware of the fact that few fans inhabit the Venn diagram center of the two acts. Throughout both sets, it was clear that mutual adoration appeared to be the driving force behind this coming together of musical worlds, with both parties expressing sheer gratitude for the chance to share a stage with one another.
Noname, seen grinning radiantly throughout her set, performed a string of beloved tracks—the majority of which were from her 2023 LP, Sundial. I had the fortune of seeing the record performed during her promotional tour in the fall of that year, and was thrilled to witness it once more on a stage as grand as the Hollywood Bowl’s. Accompanied by mesmerizing, honey-like vocals and charming, jazz-inflected arrangements, Noname’s riveting, soberingly honest work continues to affirm that she resides in a league of her own—a truth Grimy Goods recognized back in 2019, when covering her Room 25 tour.
“Beauty Supply”—a track illustrating the cognitive dissonance of adhering to, yet resenting, cultural standards of textured hair—was a personal favorite of mine, as I have long related to this particular inner conflict, and made for a standout performance. The lyricsmith closed her set with a jubilant rendition of “hold me down,” during which her band’s stage presence felt akin to that of a gospel choir and left the amphitheater buzzing in glee.
After a brief intermission, Big Thief gracefully took to the stage and opened with an exuberant “Spud Infinity.” Igniting whistles and hollers from the crowd, the band’s twangy strings transported the audience elsewhere and reminded me of my fondness for folk music’s ability to do so.
Playing a mix of fan favorites across their extensive discography, as well as a healthy portion of tracks from their freshly released LP, Double Infinity, the collective delivered a soul-stirring evening replete with delicate chimes, alluring pedal steel guitar strums, and magnetic basslines.
During “All Night All Day,” frontwoman Adrianne Lenker invited collaborator Laraaji onstage, whose accompanying zither and vocals blanketed the crowd in warmth and tranquility.
Fuzzy guitar hums breathed air into “Incomprehensible,” the opening track on Double Infinity. An endearing contemplation on time and its passage, Lenker here chants, “In two days it’s my birthday and I’ll be 33 / That doesn’t really matter next to eternity / But I like a double number, and I like an odd one too / And everything I see from now on will be somethin’ new.”
As their set unfolded, Big Thief steadily contradicted my initial skepticism that music of their nature would be better suited to a more intimate venue, much like those they played—and that Grimy Goods first covered—early in the band’s career. I stood, or rather, sat corrected: there may have been thousands of us packed into the theatre, but from what I could sense, every note, lyric, and chord was wholly felt by the audience.
“Los Angeles” shifted the evening’s tone, its guitar solo bringing Lenker to her knees and eliciting hollers from the crowd. This was followed by the unreleased track “Beautiful World,” a poignant protest that encapsulates the collective malaise we have all come to know as of late. Its resonant chorus—“It’s a fucked up world / Why must everything be conquered / But it, it’s so beautiful / Let’s blow a hole in the center of it”—was reminiscent of the anthems that fueled counterculture movements of times past.
In the first and only display of an acoustic guitar all evening, Lenker closed with a tender, lullaby-like performance of “Change.” She received a cheerful standing ovation from the audience and remarked as she departed the stage, “We wanna play more songs for you, but they have a curfew here!” As the lights gradually flickered on, I reluctantly gathered my belongings like a sulking child being sent to bed. In just over an hour, Big Thief offered a sanctuary of comfort, ease, and respite from the relentlessly unforgiving outside world, underscoring the therapeutic power of song.
Words: Tamara Jiji
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