Connor Oberst on His Own

I saw Connor Oberst without his Bright Eyes moniker. He played a little over an hour with what might have been his tightest band to date. Great show at the Blue Note.

All Ages with a Curfew

Bright Eyes played what was advertised as an "all ages" show at Columbus' Newport Music Hall. I can't quite recall the year, but I know it was during the summer and it was hot.

Opener Tilly and the Wall sounded awful, but I equate this to the Newport's infamously bad sound system. Later, better sounding performances would support this assertion. The tap dancer just sounded like your upstairs neighbor stomping around his apartment.

Bright Eyes came on to thirteen-year-old screams and calls for all various ballads of teen angst and loss and whatever else Oberst laments. The set was not particularly inspired, but it cost us enough to get in that we weren't going to leave.

Then, suddenly, without warning, the lights came on and the crummy sound system was turned off. Oberst played on, eventually opting for an acoustic guitar while sitting on the monitors.

Bouncers and the management started pushing us out of the venue. I believe my brother shouted some not-so-appreciative words at the Newport folk. They ignored and sent us walking.

We ventured to several other rock shows that night, not ever feeling like we got our money's worth. It was later revealed on a Bright Eyes discussion board that the show was only scheduled to go until 10, since it was "all ages". I have since avoided "all ages" shows. However, I may reconsider once the kid is keeping me awake all night.

Take Off the Mask, Conor

I saw Bright Eyes play a raucous show once at Little Brothers in Columbus. Conor Oberst came out wearing a rubber George W. Bush mask. He only lifted the mask slightly when he needed another swig from his rather large bottle of red wine.

The mask stayed on through two or three songs despite pleas from several young women in the crowd to take it off. They just wanted to see his face, which they did, eventually.

Bright Eyes and the Drunk Kids Catholic

My brother and sister went with some friends to see Bright Eyes at the historic Southgate House in Newport, KY. After a stirring performance, Conor Oberst came back on the stage with an acoustic guitar to perform an encore.

One of the friends who accompanied my siblings was this guy Andy. Andy, as is typical for him on a night out, had many, many drinks. As I'm sure many of you are aware that alcohol is really just social lubricant that releases drinkers from the chains of inhibition. Of course, Andy doesn't need much help at shedding his inhibitions, but he was rather juiced this particular night.

Like what happens whenever an artist comes out for an encore, fans scream for their favorite songs. Apparently, Andy's favorite Bright Eyes' track is "Drunk Kid Catholic" and he asked Oberst to play it. And he asked. And he hollered. This continued through Oberst's first song of the encore.

Finally, Oberst had had enough (wine and Andy's request) and stormed off stage.

Fast forward about six months later at Detroit's St. Andrews Hall. It was my brother Nate's birthday and several of us met at this show to celebrate.

Nate started the night off by ordering a beer. I ordered right next to him. I was a little put off that the beers were so expensive that all I got back was a quarter, so I turned around without leaving a tip. The bartender saw the quarter and thought Nate had left a quarter tip (which he had actually left nothing, but that's besides the point) and threw the quarter at Nate's head. Needless to say, Nate had to be careful which bartender to approach for the rest of the evening.

Eventually Bright Eyes filled the stage and put on a decent show. Nate and our friend CJ decided to honor Andy by hollering for "Drunk Kid Catholic" throughout the set...or at least once they got drunk enough to not care anymore.

Once they got bored with this request, instead of screaming for another BE song, they altered the title by replacing "Catholic" with any religion they could think of. Drunk Kid Mennonite. Drunk Kid Baptist. Drunk Kid Muslim.

Between requests, Nate and CJ were buying each other drinks at an alarming pace. Finally, the bar refused to serve either one. So, I bought them drinks.

The night ended with Nate pushing the issue further by arguing with the same bartender that tossed the quarter at him earlier. On our way out, Nate condemned Detroit and all its occupants.

I later gave Nate an MC5 record I purchased that day in Ann Arbor. Happy birthday...you drunk kid Agnostic.