Adrianne Lenker – Live at Revolution Hall Review 

After a stellar solo release and continued success with Big Thief, listeners may be asking too much of Adrianne Lenker. At what point does this stream of brilliant work stop? Who knows? Who cares? If we are walking along with quality in tow, it matters not when it runs dry. Live at Revolution Hall is a staggering release from Lenker, whose live album holds more of an aesthetic purpose than it does a musical one. Cassette recordings, dogs barking, this is meant to be a lived-in experience. Gone is the crisp recording style, the sense of professionalism usually accompanying the stage experience. This is more like a found bootleg, put out by the artist with the intention of pursuing an image of rarity, of community, through a non-traditional sound. We should welcome that as a fundamental change to the expected range of live albums.  

We live in times where aesthetic is everything. Live at Revolution Hall knows this. Replication is the next best thing to reality. By providing the crowd chatter and performance through a distorted tape, the hope is that Lenker can bring the show close to home, closer to the heart. It works to a degree. There is a far less clinical sound to it when compared to other live shows, but the best in class, the likes of At Folsom Prison and Stop Making Sense, do not rely on tricks, just strong performance. Lenker has plenty of strong performances throughout this, but hopes to utilise some aesthetic turn to add a new layer which was already there, embedded in their music. Live at Revolution Hall depends on audience participation. Not from those in the audience for this performance, but those listening at home, likely on Spotify. Do not be alarmed, this is an intentional sound, not a reduced quality from the ever-disappointing streaming service.  

Lenker hopes the home listener can humour the idea of finding a cassette, uncovering the works of an artist not meant for release. That tends to work better when not readily available and released in a way which undermines the creative flow. Still, what comes through are a series of adequate performances from Lenker. Two hours of material from the stage, delicate moments, amplified the recording choice. The best bits, however, are pieces like Happiness, which sounds like a higher definition than the bootleg-like sound elsewhere. Live at Revolution Hall feels like a reaction to the generative slop, the lack of quality control in the world around us. Shortform content, the cull of brain cells when images are turned into slick-looking videos with artificial intelligence, has ruined attention spans worldwide. Lenker, to some degree, is trying to connect with a time before, and it works.  

Live at Revolution Hall truly depends on what you want from live performance. If you want to hear people whistle briefly, and out of tune, with a singer, then here you go. But perhaps that is a cynical view of a project trying, earnestly, to connect with a time before pain was readily accessible. Lenker edits little from this live set, leaving in those flubs, tuning moments and preparations from song to song. It feels clunky, but that is the live show, tedious and terrific. Lenker remains an artist unafraid of change, always responding to the idea at hand. Often it works, and there are a few beautiful moments as a result of those muffled sounds, like Ruined. It errs on the side of mood board more than it does musical spontaneity, though it will have some profound effect on those whose response to the fears of the world is not anger, but laughter.