Angel Olsen at Bearsville Theater (photo by Emilio Herce)
On Wednesday, February 8th, Angel Olsen performed at Woodstock’s Bearsville Theatre, and you should not expect this to be an unbiased review. First of all, The Bearsville Theatre is a beautiful room, replete with chandeliers and a cathedral arched ceiling which makes it feel a lot larger than its 400-person capacity. It’s probably the smallest room she’ll play on her current tour, in support of her 2022 album Big Time, the excellent, country-tinged, cowboy’s lament on too much time wasted on the wrong person. It’s an album I’d fallen deeply in love with last summer when I spent a lot of time listening to it for reasons. Olsen is also one of my favorite artists, but I think it fair to say that last week’s show was objectively incredible, and the best I have ever seen her and her band perform.
Woodstock, a historically famous music town, has become something of a mecca for both working singer-songwriters and well-to-do creative professionals who want the amenities of the city without the associated smells and sounds. It’s close enough to Brooklyn that you can get there in a relatively short amount of time (I’m a real New Yorker, so I do not have a car and took the train), and while I would have traveled a lot further to see this tour (it was lacking a NYC/Brooklyn proper date, the closest play being Jersey City) my friends had thankfully moved close to the area.
I’d see Olsen on the last night of the Wild Hearts tour where she shared equal billing with Julien Baker and Sharon Van Etten (see FTA’s coverage). Her set that night was fantastic but seemed, perhaps, like it lost some of its saturation, sandwiched between two other great performances, and it felt akin to a long festival set. It felt different being surrounded by 400 (though I suspect more as the Bearsville Theatre gives a seated event vibe and this was standing room) of her fans last week, seeing her performing songs, now perfected by a year of touring them, on what felt like a victory lap. We also had the magic of an underplay working for us, where artists that are used to playing venues one or two tiers larger, return to a club or small theater and play a perfect show.
Angel Olsen at Bearsville Theater
Olsen’s set on Wednesday was Big Time heavy, opening with “Dream Thing,” “Big Time,” “Ghost On,” and ” Right Now” before a brief mid-set detour of older favorites, “Shut Up Kiss Me,” “Give It Up” and “All Mirrors,” before returning to the newer “This Is How It Works,” “Go Home,” and “All the Good Times.” Her songs take their time, settling in before turning on in the second half, revealing the song’s real motifs, which are visible neither in the first nor second halves alone, but the conversation and interaction between the two. These are usually my favorite parts of her songs, the subtle shift which you wait for on every listen and which kills you every time. In live settings, Olsen’s band stretches out for these, coming back under her control when she returns to a verse, before repeating the loud quiet dynamic again for greater effect.
Olsen placed the three songs that are prime examples of this dynamic (and are maybe my favorites on their respective records), “Lark” from 2019’s All Mirrors, “Sister” from 2016’s My Woman, and the current “Go Home” back-to-back at the tail end of her set. These are mostly longer songs, made even longer by her band who seemed to relish playing these songs, and devastating us in the audience with them. The room was quiet throughout the show, but especially during these moments, maybe most notably because of the rapturous applause that proceeded these songs.
After the show, my friend reminded me that I’d told her, the last time we’d seen each other, that Big Time was helping me through the final gasps of a breakup. I had totally forgotten this, and I don’t associate Big Time with heartbreak as I do other sadder, more dour records which I’ve had to set aside because of their now sorrowful associations. I think it’s because Olsen’s latest is not really a “break-up” record, it’s more a “getting over someone” record, reflective of feeling returning after the numbness of a bruise, and maybe even confidence after the skittishness of disappointment. Coming back stronger, but more careful, or maybe not careful, but intentional. Both the record and the Woodstock concert felt this way, deeply intentional performances, cathartic, but also strong-willed and resolute, knowing exactly what needs to be said, and maybe what I needed to hear.
Angel Olsen at Bearsville Theater
Olsen made a joke during her set about maybe doing a residency in Woodstock next time. I sincerely hope this wasn’t a joke and have already informed my friends that I’d be moving in if this were to be the case.
Singer-songwriter, Erin Rae, has been on the road with Olsen and opened the evening.
Scroll down for setlist, pics of the show (photos by Emilio Herce)
Setlist: Dream Thing, Big Time, Ghost On, Right Now, Shut Up Kiss Me, Give It Up, All Mirrors, This Is How It Works, Lark, Go Home, Sister, All the Good Times, Chance, Slowin’ Down Love (solo) (Tucker Zimmerman cover) Encore: Without You (Harry Nilsson cover)
ERIN RAE
ANGEL OLSEN
