So on the 12th and 13th of February I went and saw Bright Eyes in concert downtown at the Orpheum Theatre. Now, you may be wondering why there aren't about 50 bazillion up close shots of Bright Eyes on my blog. THEY DIDN'T ALLOW CAMERAS. How disappointed was I. So you will just have to trust me when I say I had kick ass seats for BOTH shows.
The set list was basically a rundown of I'm Wide Awake It's Morning. He kicked both shows off with At the Bottom of Everything, followed by one of my all-time [okay, these albums] favorites, We Are Nowhere and It's Now [please, just download this one song- it's so beautiful] and then Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) (which is about a big old war protest that was in NYC.) Now i don't really remember all the set list from both nights, (and who really can?!) but here goes:
- The aforementioned 3 songs
- A Scale, A Mirror, and Those Indifferent Clocks, off Fevers and Mirrors (he played organ on this one- totally intense.)
- When The President Talks to God (this one got a standing ovation because it's the best anti-Bush song ever written. both nights it totally roused the audience. the second night it caused a tipsy Betsy to yell out "Fuck Bush!" You think I am kidding. I am not. And yes, I was sitting front row center.)
- Train Under Water
- Another Travelin' Song (phenomenal live!)
- Poison Oak (I have a newfound appreciation for this song. I mean, I liked it before, but now I can't seem to get enough of it. It really highlighted Stef Drootin, the bassist, who is also in the band Consafos whose new album is coming out. She's totally awesome- and a deadringer for Maggie Gyllenhaal.)
- Land Locked Blues (which I still insist on calling One Foot in Front of the Other, but I digress. Just Conor and his guitar. Heartbreakingly beautiful, just beautiful live. I'm getting teary just thinking about it.)
- Padriac My Prince (which was good live, and one of his most haunting [it outlines a baby drowning in a bathtub as a metaphor for a bad breakup] but its like he was only playing it cos he had to play something off his first album for the long term fans.)
- Lua (I cant even describe. You just really had to be there.)
and finally, the grand finale, the piece de resistance (pardon my french)
- Road To Joy. Which is the single reason why everyone should worship at the alter of Oberst. I'm not kidding. This song live is...intense. That's the only way to describe it. The first night, because he was drunk as all hell, he decided to climb up on the drum kit, which so totally rocked until some tool came out and acted like he was gonna catch him if he fell (it wasn't that high, mind you.) The second night he wasn't quite as drunk, but he still started "playing" his guitar on the amp, causing crazy feedback and noise and all around rockin' craziness. Totally totally intense.
But heres the thing, the amazing thing on the saturday show was, he really was totally trashed the whole time, but you could only tell when he talked. The music was still tight and perfect, he didn't even slur. That's how good of a performer he is. There was some lighthearted banter about an umbrella and tuberculosis, as well as some people giving him shit about Road To Joy being on KROQ (and rightfully so, as he has so railed against Clear Channel) his answer was that they must just have good ears at KROQ, and claimed they didn't give them any money. Who really knows, though?
The sunday show there was some bitterness over the Grammys. He was taking the piss about a song being simulcast to the Grammys, and introduced it as if it were, and kept repeating that he was really sorry Ray Charles had died. And then claimed that the fact that him and Billie Joe were sporting the same eye makeup was not a coincidence. Oh, and he's no longer vegan, because "I like fish. It tastes good." I know, you're thrilled. Is this getting boring yet?? Okay, and on Sunday, because I was tipsy and sitting front row center, I yelled a request, which he presently ignored. I really wanted him to play June on the West Coast which is one of my all time favorites, but to no avail. So there you go.
I mean, it was just so inspiring, really. It made me want to go and play music.
And THEN!
The next afternoon, I played the best hooky I have ever played in my life. I went and saw the taping of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson because Bright Eyes was on. They played Road to Joy, and rocked so hard that Conor had to smash his guitar at the end, and the trumpet player (yes I said trumpet player) smashed his trumpet into the ground. Crazy shit man, we were like 10 feet away from the band too cos it's a teeny tiny studio. Oh, yeah, i was in the front row for this too. It was neat, cos you could kinda see it building from the past couple days during Road to Joy- we thought he was gonna smash it Saturday, really. During his interview, Craig asked him if he was strapped for cash, and he replied "uh, yeaah, that was an extremely expensive guitar" and sorta laughed nervously. But that's not the best part. I now am in posession of a piece of that smashed guitar- which quite possibly might be one of the best Valentines I have ever received. Not the best, because the past two years Art (my dad) has sent me these totally cute Valentines, this latest one included a drawing of Cappy, so those are really the best ones I've ever gotten, really. Valentines day was tolerable this year.
that was long. 23-year-old me is exhausting.
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