Bright Eyes

Given the lo-fi and intimate nature characterizing the music of Bright Eyes one might wonder how they can deliver an hour and half set without tiring the audience. This is truly a naive misconception. Their live performances are delivered with such potent emotional resonance and directness that the audience is left begging for more. At the Atlanta Tabernacle show during "The People's Key Tour" some fans were so ecstatic after the performance they nearly did a flip over the railing to grab a setlist.
The music of Bright Eyes also goes so much further than the lo-fi folk stigma attached to them. They have proven themselves to be dextrous and eclectic musicians crossing in to several disparate genres. "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn" saw them channeling the synth-pop and dark wave sound championed by their contemporaries and fellow label mates The Faint. After all Conor Oberst was in the band Commander Venus with the group's lead singer Todd Fink well before the existence of either one of their current bands. Their 2007 album Casadaga takes a completely different approach stylistically to "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn" and a turn production wise comparative to their early recordings. It is a lush Country album filled with well defined instrumentation, but juxtaposed by Oberst's signature cutting lyrics. The setlist of a Bright Eyes show is sure to have the stripped down folk ballads written on the hearts of every diehard fan, but it is not lacking in the "more fun" nevertheless sardonic pop hits like "Four Winds" and "Lover I Don't Have to Love".
Though the genre of emo has been triumphed, abused and often rejected by the very people to whom it was first applied, it seems without a doubt appropriately attributed to the music of Bright Eyes. These "emo" shows are particularly enjoyable to go to because the entire audience seems to mutually offer their souls as a sacrifice to the performing band. Practically the whole venue knew all the lyrics at the Bright Eyes show I was attending and some of the fans were so emotionally invested in the performance they started to tear their hair out during the song "Road to Joy".
Despite presiding stigmas attached to bands such as Bright Eyes it is safe to say there are no dull moments at their shows. Judging from their lyrics they may seem like a band who take themselves too serious, but these preconceived notions vanish upon seeing them. Oberst is constantly cracking jokes and engages the audience in witty banter. Band members Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott have their performance down to a science playing with amazing precision and feeling, making for an unforgettable show.

On their last tour, in support of 2011’s The People’s Key, Bright Eyes threw out their old rulebook; where previously they’d stick closely to new material and throw in the odd oldie here and there, they suddenly blew their formidable back catalogue wide open. With the core trio of Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott expanded to a seven-piece, they tore through sets that blended The People’s Key highlights with more or less equal representation for their genuinely classic albums; the moody Fevers and Mirrors, experimental Lifted and magnum opus I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning all present and correct.
As a frontman, Oberst continued to display real versatility, howling his way through ‘Road to Joy’ one minute and delivering a broken, barely-there exercise in poignancy on ‘Lua’ the next, whilst the live band - drawn largely form the Omaha music scene that considers Bright Eyes the jewel in its crown - provided stirring and diverse backing, with horns, keyboards and strings all covered in one form or another. It’s little wonder, then, that Oberst would routinely take anything up to fifteen minutes to introduce his fellow players during an extended, funk-driven jam, with some shows running only a little shy of three hours.