The last time I saw Bright Eyes perform live was five years ago. Conor Oberst and his two accompanists (droney keyboardist and drummer) opened for Wilco. This was about a month before Wilco would finally release Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Bright Eyes had yet to release There Is No Beginning To The Story. While Bright Eyes’ set that night was good, it was Wilco who owned the night. In addition to playing all of the songs from their aforementioned album, they played through the first seven songs from Being There in order for their first of two encores. It was a pretty amazing show.
This Columbus show had the promise of another memorable night. The lineup was another show of great performers. Oakley Hall, Gillian Welch, and Bright Eyes. I was ready for the next four hours of musical gratification.
The evening started with Oakley Hall. This six-piece band from New York has a tightly wound sound. My friend Jeremy would describe the sound as “Blackgrass.” They have an eclectic, electric sound. The band’s influences are classic rock and country rock bands – The Flying Burrito Brothers Band, Big Brother & The Holding Company, even Fleetwood Mac. They had three guitarists (one who also played lap steel & banjo), a violinist, and four singers.
They highlighted the songs from their most recent release, Gypsum Strings, which made The Wheel’s Still In Spin’s Best Albums Of 2006 list. “Lazy Susan” featured wonderful lead harmonizing vocals from Patrick Sullivan and Rachel Cox. “Living In Sin In The USA” allowed Rachel Cox to show off her pipes in great form. Throughout their half hour set, the band had a very cohesive element to their performance. Multiple people take the front of the stage – one of the lead singers, one of the guitarists soloing, the fiddler. And in a way they each play off each other.
The second act of this astonishing bill was Gillian Welch. Accompanied by David Rawlings, the two brought a more subdued element to the evening. From the first note, my attention was drawn to Rawlings. His guitar playing was mind-boggling and his body contorts and twists to the rhythm in a unique way, like a Hopi Snake Dance.
They played a number of Welch’s more recognizable songs like “Elvis Presley Blues,” “I Want To Sing That Rock And Roll,” and “Revelator.” To end their set, Welch admitted that this final song has been requested of them for years, but they never knew it. They finally learned this much-demanded song. The two began strumming their guitars and sang the opening line, “We got married in a fever,” as the audience immediately recognized the Johnny & June Carter Cash song, “Jackson.” Welch and Rawlings left the audience with a strong upbeat ending to an intimate set.
The headliner, Bright Eyes, capped the evening. There was an elaborate set full of white staging and colorful flowers. On one side there was room for the six string and woodwind players. On the other side, official Bright Eyes member Nat Walcott had a set up for keyboard, organ, and trumpet. The center of the stage was lined with two full drum sets and a percussion setup, which were primarily played by two percussionists. In front of that, the bass player, guitarist Mike Mogis, and frontman Conor Oberst stood.
The band members each walked onstage to the pre-recorded intro of Bright Eyes’ latest album, Cassadaga. As the woman began describing the journey of spiritual healing, the band played the opening song, “Clairaudients (Kill Or Be Killed).” The first four songs were four of my least favorite tracks from Cassadaga. “Hot Knives” is an impassionate song. “Make A Plan To Love Me” is a repetitive, cheesy ballad. “Middleman” sounds like a fucked up version of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme.” The full band version of “First Day Of My Life” made the song too structured and quickened all of the lyrical phrasing to sound forced. The Jethro Tull style flute solo tried to pack as many notes as possible into a short space. I remember this song being a beautiful, tender song on its original recording. The band sucked all the passion out of it in this live version.
The backdrop to the performance was live visual performances. Using a digital camera, an artist created multicolored displays that were animated to the music. Up to this point in the set, that was the most unique and intriguing part of the show.
The set picked up with a solid version of “The Calendar Hung Itself.” The song “Cartoon Blues,” from the Four Winds EP, was one of the high points of the set. Conor, David Rawlings, and Gillian Welch treated the audience to one of Oberst’s new songs. And they played a good version of “Classic Cars” from the new Bright Eyes album. As the set ended with “Lime Tree” and “I Believe In Symmetry,” it was not going to be remembered a one of my favorite performances.
That all changed with the encore. Opening to the double drum set rhythms of “Easy/Lucky/Free,” the band was energized. They followed by bringing Gillian Welch and David Rawlings back out to play one of Welch’s songs, “Look At Miss Ohio.” It was a magnificent full band rendering of the song in Ohio’s capital city. The band then left the stage and the trio of Oberst, Welch, and Rawlings gave the audience a stellar version of “Lua.” The show ended by bringing out the full band again to play “Road To Joy,” which ended in continuous distortion, noise, and feedback.
This show was full of motion from Oakley Hall’s roots rock beginning to Welch’s folk intimacy to Bright Eyes brand of rock and roll. And Bright Eyes’ encore saved his set. It was a great bill and turned out being a damn good Sunday night show.
www.oakleyhall.net
www.myspace.com/oakleyhall
www.gillianwelch.com
www.myspace.com/gillianwelch
www.thisisbrighteyes.com
www.myspace.com/brighteyes
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