Frankie Cosmos with Big Thief at Adelaide Hall

Photos by Janine Wong

As I sat in Adelaide Hall, sipping a beer, listening to Childish Gambino and dreaming about how Donald Glover will make a great young Lando Calrissian, I couldn’t help but be giddy for the show ahead. Though I knew little about Big Thief, Frankie Cosmos is the definition of fun, non-pretentious rock. Their latest album, Next Year, is song after song of pleasant, uncomplicated ditties about the little things in life that tie us all together.

Big Thief played first. The lead singer, Adrianne Lenker, quickly caught my ear with her fantastic voice. The music and show was very dreamy with a distinct country vibe, though occasionally the delicate tones gave way to utter calamity, or as I liked to think of it, nightmare country. However, one thing I found odd was the frequent switches between full band songs and solo jams by Lenker. I’ve seen other bands pull this off by leaving the stage or staying out of the light, but instead the band stood around awkwardly. If it had only been for one song I would have understood, but about a third of their set was solo songs (including an interesting acapella tune by lead guitarist Buck Meek), interspersed throughout. However, regardless of who was playing at any given time, it was always guaranteed to be be good.

Listening to Frankie Cosmos’ music is like a big warm hug. It’s a groovy reminder that not only is it okay to be quirky and weird, it’s COOL. From sheepishly apologizing for her “lame guitar solo” (fortunately, it only sounded lame to her because her monitor was having some sound issues) to inviting the whole crowd to go see Kero Kero Bonito with her after the show was done, lead singer and guitarist Greta Cline made it clear that she was just another human trying to figure out what this whole “being cool” thing was about.

Their set was equally as genuine. They danced, they sang, and most of all, they were happy. It was the sort of music and performance that you can’t help but smile along to. I also noticed something rather novel about their set: because most of their songs are less than 3 minutes long (many under 2), they played what felt like dozens of songs. In fact, I’m pretty sure they played about 80% of their repertoire. It was fantastic. Any and every song I could have wanted to hear was played, and then some. In a special Toronto shout out, she mentioned that at their last Toronto show someone had requested a song, Greta played it solo, then they later wrote a band version of it because of that request. They then went on to play that song, though unfortunately the requester from the previous show did not appear to be in attendance. Too bad.

Frankie Cosmos and Big Thief are a dreamy, bubbly, power lineup. Despite being plagued by many technical issues, including spotty monitors and unplugged cords, the two bands put on a fantastic show that entertained and kept the audience’s heads bobbing throughout. I definitely look forward to their return.