Bright Eyes @ UT Bass Concert Hall, Austin (05/13/07)

Last night decked out in white attire, Conor Oberst and his troupe played at UT's Bass Concert Hall, even the piano was white! The setlist would satisfy any devoted Bright Eyes fan, including songs from his beautiful new album, Cassadaga and older albums such as Lifted, Fevers And Mirrors, Digital Ash In A Digital Urn and I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning.

The acoustics of the Bass Concert Hall was amazing and the 11-member band filled up the grandiose venue wonderfully. This Spring tour has Conor gracing venues that are more use to the sound of chamber orchestras and music appealing to your mom and dad. Of course I would've preferred a more intimate and familiar venue, but this show opened my eyes or rather ears to how music can still be enjoyed while sitting. My friends and I were more on the edges of our seats, clapping our hands and cheering our throats sore anyways. I guess some things never change no matter how big or small a venue is.

The neat visual display was from a projector all done while the songs were played on stage. Interpreting the songs with various photos moved from one side to the other, colorful marbles blurred and focused again, colored water drops nudged and blotted on the screen and more. Conor kept saying your name and I can't remember it for the life of me, but you were wonderful.

It's so lovely that they're bringing a string section with them on this tour, since a lot of Cassadaga's beauty rests on the string players. (Oh Nate Walcott, you and your string arrangements, Cassadaga wouldn't be the same without your work!) For the violinist that gets to play solo on the stage though, you are amazing. I mean I thought "Four Winds" was absolutely terrific on the album, wait till you hear it live, my stomach literally dropped! They also played full band versions, on the songs from I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. The only thing I could've requested was the presence of lovely Mister M. Ward and oh much closer seats! Well we did get a nice bird's eye view, since we were sitting from the first balcony.

When I saw Bright Eyes on their Digital Ash In A Digital Urn Tour at Stubb's(Austin), Conor was zipped up in a black hoodie and stayed mostly in one spot for the whole set. He seemed so comfortable on stage last night and would stage banter a bit and move from one side to the other. Again the setlist was wonderful generously dipping into four of his albums. I think the surprise of the night was "The Calendar Hung Itself", you could hear the sudden roar of the audience clapping and screaming when they recognized the song within the first few seconds. "False Advertisement" drew a similar extreme welcoming response. The night ended perfectly with a beautiful full band version of "Lua".

Setlist:

Clairaudients (Killed Or Be Killed)
Hot Knives
Middleman
First Day Of My Life
Four Winds
No One Would Riot For Less
False Advertising
The Calendar Hung Itself
Brakeman
Soul Singer In A Session Band
Lime Tree
I Believe In Symmetry
Gold Mine Gutted
Lua

Stream + Download + Purchase:

Lime Tree| Bright Eyes


Upcoming Tour Dates:

05-14 New Orleans, LA - Republic
05-16 Tampa, FL - Carol Morsani Hall at Tampa Bay PAC
05-17 Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live
05-18 Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre
05-19 Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
05-20 Columbus, OH, - Wexner Center
05-21 Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre
05-22 Toronto, ONT - Massey Hall
05-24 Boston, MA - WANG Center
05-25 New York, NY - Town Hall

Links:

>>> Bright Eyes' Official Site (with details on rest of tour)
<<< Cassadaga's Mini Site: two free downloads!
>>> Purchase Cassadaga

~anne