Adrianne Lenker - live at Revolution Hall

4AD

Adrianne Lenker releases her first live album in the form of Live at Revolution Hall. The 43 track, 32 song album was recorded in and around Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon, June 2024.

'Here we are, for a brief, infinite moment.'

The record is just over two hours of Lenker live recordings and behind the scenes conversations and quips, and a couple sneezes - moments of seemingly menial importance until looked back upon. The way it's recorded and weaved together gives it this VHS-at-home-with-the-family feel - intimate. Grainy vignettes. Flashbacks of past thoughts and notes to self. A crowd in the giddy zone  - a result of good, tilting on the side of nervous, energy. Stripped back to their purest essence, the tracks, which run the gamut of Lenker's solo and Big Thief output, take on a fresh form in the live setting.  

Ephemeral moments burnt upon your brain. Flash-photos of who you once knew, and maybe still do, and who you once were. Lives lived and lives lost. Clothes grown into and out of. Shoes worn-in and worn-out. Once meaningful things that have lost their meaning. Roadtrips down unknown paths. Winding walks up weird trails. Getting lost for the sake of it - life gets real when you're lost. Moreso wandering. Wondering. The time ticking by. Flowing. 'Counting time as time counts me.' Getting chewed up by existence. Spit out. Re-born again. Re-calibrate sights. Re-see life. Repeat cycle.

Made to replicate the live experience rather than capture the performance, Live at Revolution Hall places the listener with Lenker at times and with the crowd at other times. It's a nice mix of here and there. 

My favourite moment on the album is during "Spud Infinity":

'Kiss your body up and down, other than your elbows.

'Cause as for your elbows, they're on their own, wandering like a rolling stone. 

Rubbing up against the edges of experience.' 

There's a weight to these words that literally change the air and gives it a physical, indescribable feel. The abstract becomes tangible. Your soul can sense the shift. Hairs stand at attention. 

'Silent river pouring backward eternally.'

Per Lenker's Instagram: 'This live record encapsulates the essence of the thing we've been cultivating together since I played my first live show when I was a kid all the way until now whenever that now is. Here is a little lightning in a jar, a capture of the spirit of all shows I've ever played and ever will play. The music is alive, and the magic of recording is letting us get close to that spark at any time, anywhere and if we want to, over and over again.'

Live at Revolution Hall captures one of our time's greatest songwriters at the peak of their powers.

A must listen.