Monday, 23 Apr 2007
Last night I drove to Milwaukee to catch Bright Eyes for the first time. I’ve enjoyed, though not loved, his recently released album, Cassadaga, which has yet to hit me in a way like his I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning or Digital Ash in a Digital Urn did back in 05.
With strong and well received opening sets by Oakley Hall & McCarthy Trenching, the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee once again found itself sold out and full of enthusiastic fans waiting for the full-band Bright Eyes treatment.
Preparing themselves for their upcoming tour, the band spent the previous two days in Milwaukee using the Pabst as their rehearsal space for ironing out all the intricacies of their production. Nonetheless, you always have to walk into the first show of a tour expecting some gaffs and things to not always go as planned, however last night’s performance contained more than a few such instances.
Because this was my first time seeing Bright Eyes, it was hard for me to discern last night’s performance/antics from a typical show. There was a lot of chatter by Conor between songs, mostly him praising the aforementioned opening acts, which he continued to do multiple times to the point of annoyance. At some point he decided to give his guitars to the crowd after each song, prompting his stage hand and manager into the crowd to retrieve the instruments constantly. For the encore he made two attempts at stage diving into the crowd and again needed to be retrieved by management/security. This happened after an altogether frightening fall from the orchestral area which for a moment looked much more serious than it eventually appeared to be.
Outside of the antics and chatter the songs themselves were exactly what the crowd was looking for and were overwhelmingly received (minus the missed lyrics and chord changes). Unfortunately, the distractions, banter, and hijinks greatly outweighed the bright spots in the performance. Here’s hoping that the rest of the tour goes off a little better than last night.
Update: Other reviews from Mirr World and TimeDoor are now up.
Myspace: Bright Eyes
MP3: Bright Eyes – Four Winds
MP3: Bright Eyes – No Riot
April 23rd, 2007 at 12:26 pm
As comical as it sometimes was, it was painful to watch and overall disappointing.
April 23rd, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Does anyone have a setlist or at least some idea of what old songs they played vs/ the new stuff??
April 23rd, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Most songs played were off his latest album, but he did toss in Ode to Joy, I Believe In Symmetry & False Advertising. Those are the few I can remember….
I agree that Conor’s behavior was more & more unpredictable & odd as the show went on. He appeared to be confused & out of control.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Oakley Fucking Hall, man…omg, did you hear them? Those guys are amazing…it’s ridiculous. You should buy their album.
April 23rd, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Setlist anyone?
April 23rd, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Luke, you forgot to say that three times and add “it would be a good purchase.”
April 23rd, 2007 at 8:35 pm
OAKLEY HALL! (x3 naturally)
I have a review up with pics/video @ Mirr World. Check it here:
http://mirrworld.blogspot.com/2007/04/bright-eyes-concert-review-pabst.html
What a fucked up concert!
April 23rd, 2007 at 9:04 pm
Hey M.O.B. readers, come on over to Timedoor.textdriven.com for another take on the show, including more pics and a set list.
Enik
April 23rd, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Setlist (not in order)
Clairaudients
Hot Knives
Make a Plan to Love Me
If the Brakeman Turns my Way
Four Winds
Soul Singer in a Session Band
Gold Mine Gutted
Classic Cars
Middleman
Cleanse Song
I Believe in Symmetry
No One Would Riot for Less
I Must Belong Somewhere
Lime Tree
False Advertising
Encore:
The Calendar Hung Itself
Road to Joy
April 23rd, 2007 at 11:33 pm
Nice videos bluesphee!
Here’s the Journal Sentinel review:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=594814
April 24th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
I was 1st row (seating) at the concert and I thought it was amazing! I’m not going to be one of those stupid fans and complain about the concert not being perfect, I’m a musician/performer and I know what it is like being up on stage. I also know what it is like being captured away from drugs and alcohol. When you combine performing and the captivation together …. something crazy is bound to happen. I’m glad that I got to see the real Conor. He is such a wierd guy and you can tell he just let lose! The band was amazing and really tight. Conor was the only person who messed up (all the time), but it was an entertaining show. I wish he played “First Day of My Life”, but seeing how he sang/acted while he was drunk, that would of just wrecked the song for me. Get off your high horses and realize that you saw a great great show. I will never forget this show …. ever!!! I’ve seen some amazing shows with crazy musicians, but Conor takes the cake!!!! Hope he has a fine recovery in rehab!!!!
April 24th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
He’s such a rockstar. I left the Pabst feeling as if that was one of the most entertaining shows that I have ever seen. The more I think about it though, the more disappointed I am. The show ended with him being carried off like a little kid. It will be interesting how the rest of the tour goes. My thoughts exactly on rehab, Jason.
However, I did enjoy the live projectionist and the white suits.
April 24th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
I’ll admit I was skeptical about the projectionist, but damn if that wasn’t some of the coolest and unique shit I’d seen at a show in some time.
April 25th, 2007 at 12:10 am
I thought the show was lots of fun.. it was my first time seeing them, so maybe I’m not a good judge, but the theatre plus the presentation plus the music was really cool. The bass player and conor were clearly on the same wavelength, and I didn’t notice any mistakes. Maybe the people that heard all these screw ups are comparing the sound to the album. The mood was pretty chill until the encore and then things got pretty chaotic. I loved the whole ‘fuck the tourmanager’ vibe. If I had a complaint it would be that I wanted to see more older stuff, but I saw the Riv show tonight in Chicago and they played ‘first day of my life’ just like the guy on this list requested. If you’re reading this, cheers to you for some sweet ass rock and roll.
champ
April 25th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
“there is no right way or wrong way, you just have to live. So I do what I do, and at least I exist. What could mean more than this? What could mean more, mean more…?”
From Conor himself in “Hit the Switch” from Digital Ash. This song and many other prior works detail his struggles with drugs and alcohol. Don’t act so surprised. It was great because it wasn’t contrived. Consider yourself lucky if you were there; far better than when I saw him at a sports arena in Omaha in 2005. It was one of the best shows I’ve seen in years.
I was glad to see a show where the artist didn’t just package up a nice consumer-ready performance. This is his lifestyle and his poetry. That’s what we paid for. Fuck Yeah.
April 25th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
mannix:
I think you make valid points, by that measure/example you’ve made a perfect excuse for him to never have a bad or underwhelming show – the “oh, that’s just how he is” excuse. Not sure if I buy that, take Cat Power for example, her shows are a gazillion times better now that she’s cleaned up and can make it thorough a whole song sans breakdown.
I think the Pabst is a much better venue than a sports arena, so it makes sense that by that account it would be better.
If you’re saying that his antics and behavior made the show one of the best you’ve seen in years, then I guess we go to shows for different reasons (which is cool and fine).
April 27th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Sunday was my second time seeing Bright Eyes. The first time I saw him was at Iowa State University, which was an all around decent show. Much smaller than at the Pabst, and not as exciting, though he did actually remember MOST of the words. Not quite all of them, but it didn’t ruin the entire show when he messed up JUST a little.
In my opinion, it had nothing to do with “the way he is” either. Just because he’s into drugs and alcohol – whatever. You play a show to actually *PLAY a SHOW.* To sing SONGS. With words. If I wanted to see someone falling over and being hysterical due to extreme intoxication, I’d go hang out at the pub down the street and see it for free.
I paid a lot of money to see an amazing artist play his amazing songs.
Not to see an amazing artist ATTEMPT and FAIL to play his amazing songs.
The first half of the show was perfect. The projections were creative, to say the least. The band was absolutely beautiful.
I still can’t help but feel I got ripped off and now have mixed feelings about Conor and just how selfish he really is.
April 28th, 2007 at 9:20 am
Were any of you in the balcony…with the projectionist in your sight? Besides all the crazy shit that went on on the stage, that was the worst part of the show for me. The projectionist was right in my perifery (sp) and was SO distracting it was ridiculous. They should get rid of him.
February 20th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
i saw this same tour show in omaha. he acted crazy ripping up flowers and all. i think you guys are too serious with this. i love when ppl get into music that much to where they go nuts. i mean yeah he might have been on drugs but still i would have been so excited to see someone freak out like that.
just enjoy the music. who cares what he likes to do? there is some way worse things ppl do on stage then that.