Get in loser, we’re going crying…
I first found Bright Eyes on an unclaimed hard drive in my early college days. I may have mentioned this before, as it was the same server that introduced me to Frank Turner. I owe it quite a bit, apparently. ‘First Day Of My Life’ was like an instantaneous hug. The kind of hug that you get from someone who is also soaking the shoulder of your shirt with tears. For some reason, hearing it conjures scenes of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in my emotional brain. It’s that kind of hopeless, but uplifting, emotional cyclone – and with that, I was hooked.
I couldn’t catch Bright Eyes at the Hydro recently – supporting The Postal Service – but I’ve landed on my feet with this headline slot at the Barrowlands.
The support – who come on half an hour before advertised – is William the Conqueror. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting with that name, but what I got was significantly better than I imagined. Three people on the stage give us a thick, lush, alt rock that calls upon The National, The Pixies, and Nick Cave without sounding remotely like any of them. It’s one of the most delicate balances of influences I’ve heard, but it’s worth hearing for yourself.
The uninitiated could be forgiven for thinking that Bright Eyes is merely the stage name of Conor Oberst – the voice that’s either perpetually on the verge of tears or whispering directly into our souls. But Bright Eyes is actually a band of people with permanent members Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott. Tonight, there’s also MiWi La Lupa, Alex Levine, and Conor Elmes, which makes for a busy stage filled with multiple keyboards and percussion.
Starting with ‘Bells and Whistles’, one thing becomes immediately clear. This isn’t going to be some acoustic, misery fest. The music is loud (to the extent that if I take out my ear plugs, I’d call it too loud – but I might just be old), and is comfortably folk punk in it’s performance. To call back to Bright Eye’s lost media hard drive neighbour – there’s as much energy on the stage tonight as there is at any Frank Turner show.
One of the concerns that I had – having seen footage of previous gigs – was that the additional instrumentation over the one man and his guitar would muddy everything up. I shouldn’t have been so concerned, though. Taking the iconic ‘First Day of my Life’ as an example, the full sound lifts the whole number rather than bogs it down. The backbone of melody and voice is punctuated with additional notes and sounds that guide the song on its way across the crowd.
It’s this fuller, more energetic sound that makes the Barrowlands make sense. Tonight is quite a step away from a sell out show – the crowd fit comfortably in the room without having to pour into the side areas and there’s decent room around each person to swing a cat. Had tonight been a Conor Oberst solo show, it would have been infinitely better in a small, intimate venue with the same number of people. But tonight, there’s too much energy on the stage to be in a smaller room.
Throughout the set, Conor snatches every opportunity to interact with his band mates, rather than sulk at the mic stand. That being said, there’s no sulking actually going on here… If you listen to the recordings, you’re basking in melancholy and despair, but live the atmosphere is a lot more hopeful and uplifting. The content of the songs are the same, but being in the same room as people who are feeling the same as you changes the context in such a way that it’s as if you’re hearing everything for the first time all over again in a different light. The live experience is vastly different from the recorded experience.
All in, this show has us drowning in feelings, but not the feelings that we expected to be drowning in. The sorrow that we’re used to from the recordings was replaced with uplifting companionship in those around us. It’s drinking alone vs drinking with your friends. One can be a sad experience, and the other being a celebration. Tonight was the celebration.
Photos by Catching Light Photography
Catching Light Photography
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