There’s something to be said about an artist standing on stage in front of hundreds of strangers with nothing but a guitar and a microphone. Intimate is the wrong word, but only because it’s overused. Impressive isn’t right either, although it’s accurate. No, it’s something else entirely. Something more powerful.

On Tuesday night, two outstanding artists, Adrianne Lenker and Angel Olson took the stage at The El Rey in Los Angeles sans their bands. Lenker is a part of Big Thief, and Olson has a band as well, but on Tuesday they played solo. Just a microphone, a guitar or two, and a crowd beneath them.

The first 40 minutes belonged to Lenker. Her set was a peaceful one, with nothing but three different acoustic guitars and a small cameo from her younger brother to carry her through. Not that she needed anything more, however. Her performance was the type that silenced the crowd, got them to hoot and holler and made them send eyes full of lasers towards anyone near the bar making a scrap of noise.

After a short intermission, Angel Olsen, the headlining act for the evening, took the stage. As the curtains drew open, Angel started right into her set in a shroud of fog with “Since You Broke My Heart.” From a modern concert perspective born from attending too many festivals, Olsen’s set was a tame one. There was no light show, no props. Olsen didn’t even bring out a guest. Instead, her set consisted of her opening up her heart to the crowd with her songs and then chatting with them in the small moments in between.

It was those moments, however, that made the evening. Whether Olsen was joking to the crowd about how she only had a few songs to play or asking for the best taco recommendations, she exuded a cool vulnerability. She would tear through songs like “Sans,” “Iota,” “Unfucktheworld,” or one of the handful of her unreleased tracks, and then comment how even after all these years, she still gets nervous on stage.

The best moment of the evening, though, came before and during her performance of “White Fire.” The crowd was particularly comfortable with Olsen, which led them to constantly cheer and make funny and sometimes awkward comments throughout the set. However, in the middle of the evening, which Olsen described as the “sad part of the set,” she was in such a good mood that she couldn’t help but smile when starting “White Fire.” Any true fans out there would agree, “White Fire” is a beautiful but devastatingly sad song. It starts out with the lyrics, “Everything is tragic. It all just falls apart.” And while Olsen normally sings it with her trademark somber tone, Tuesday night saw her grinning, forcing away a smile that refused to yield. She was having fun, and everyone in attendance was having fun with her.

The remainder of her set from that point on followed the same formula: Olsen would strum melancholy notes on her black guitar while her angelic (pun intended) voice would rise and fall like a beautiful rollercoaster. And then, after silencing the audience with yet another remarkable performance, some bozo in the back would chime in about loving her, and so she’d ask them out on a date or make an off the cuff and witty response.

After a short leave for the encore, Olsen returned to close the night with “California.” It was a suitable end but a sad one. It’s rare to see a show so stripped of all the glitz we music lovers know have come to know as commonplace these days. A show so raw in its delivery. Though doubtful they’ll see anything that pure again, those who made it to the El Rey will find it hard to forget the power Adrianne Lenker and Angel Olsen have with nothing but a microphone and guitar in hand.

Angel Olsen Setlist:

• Since You Broke My Heart
• Sans
• New Song
• Iota
• Some Things Cosmic
• White Fire
• New and Untitled Song
• New and Untitled Song
• Unfucktheworld
• If It’s Alive, It Will
• New and Untitled Song
• New and Untitled Song

ENCORE

• California