At Stage AE on Sunday night, Big Thief gave an intense, rock-oriented performance of their work, unlike their recorded material.

Big Thief are known for their soft folk and Americana sound, though often combining big musical sections of guitar feedback to keep the listener more than enthralled.

They are touring for their new album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, a Grammy-nominated project that found its way onto many year-end lists for 2022. In fact, by performing in Pittsburgh on Sunday, they missed the Grammys, which were held on the same day.

Most fans would probably agree, though, that performing for a concert crowd was a much better use of their time than loitering at the tediously long award ceremony.

The band technically began their performance with the opening act. Band member Buck Meek started the night performing as the opener, playing some of his solo work. Although Meek’s solo work usually includes a backing band, at this concert, his band couldn’t make it, leaving him to perform a solo acoustic set.

For being without his band, he did a sufficient job, but the lack of depth in his music was noticeable. For an opening act, his set was pleasant enough, though it failed to leave a lasting impact.

As a full band, Big Thief started their set not with a familiar song to the crowd, not even a deep cut that only some might know, but with a song that one can only assume they made up minutes before showtime. The track was dedicated to two audience members who presumably were celebrating an anniversary of some kind.

With such a kind gesture, the impromptu love ballad began off their set with an atmosphere of warmth.

For their first established song, they performed “Change.” While the track, both on the album and performed live, is an enjoyable experience, it is not a tune that would blow anyone out of the water.

This quality haunted the band for the next couple tracks.

Songs like “12,000 Lines,” “Dried Roses,” and “Cattails” are all very well crafted folk songs, but for anyone with only a passing interest in the band, their live renditions could be considered only satisfying.

Of course fans of the band surely appreciated the concert versions of these songs, but at this point in the night, most likely expected a pleasurable concert at best.

This all changed with “Sparrow.” While it started similarly to the aforementioned tracks, “Sparrow” took a powerful turn with the last chorus. A feminist song at heart, “Sparrow” is about the oppression and inequality that women have faced throughout history, all through the biblical lens of Adam and Eve.

This built-up anger for the mistreatment of women from centuries past was channeled through lead singer Adrienne Lenker’s vocals. She screamed the final verse of the song at the top of her lungs, potentially passing for a death metal singer while doing so.

The excitingly harsh atmosphere created by this moment was carried throughout the rest of the night.

Following this, the band performed the hit “Simulation Swarm” in a different key than is found on their latest album. The change added a layer of pleasant discomfort to the already potent track, allowing for moments like the two guitar solos present on the song to leave even more impact.

After the performance of a few unreleased numbers, the band performed “Not.” Any fan of the group would know that this might be their most rock-focused track, but the live interpretation exceeded any expectations.

The track, possibly most known for its extended guitar outro, saw this outro performed longer, louder, and more livid than any live version. The audience bore witness to 5+ minutes of heavy drums, ripped guitar lines, and excruciatingly wonderful feedback.

Surely the crowd was left without breath, not only for the breathtaking performance of the track, but from exhaustion from feeling the song as well.

The title track of their new album was one of the last performed. The song is one of the softest presences on the project, but at the concert, it was one of the most vigorous of the night.

At the end of a 17-track setlist, the band performed an encore of “Spud Infinity.” For this, easily the most jovial track of the night, Lenker brought her brother on stage to contribute by playing jaw harp. She encouraged the crowd to sing along with the melody of the fiddle found on the record in lieu of the instrument as the band lacked a member to play it.

The song was a perfect way to end the set, giving life back to the audience as a send off.