Party with a Rockstar - Bright Eyes

© 2007 Nick Davis
Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes at Lied Center, Lawrence, KS, October 23, 2007.

Tuesday night saw the crown jewel of our concert season: Bright Eyes at the Lied Center in Lawrence, KS. The show was put on by the college music committee, so I called a friend at KU and she got us 4 presale tickets for my first Bright Eyes show. When she emailed me back I was pleasantly surprised: third row, center. And not just third row, the third row of seats they add to the orchestra pit when there's no orchestra. And by center, I mean we were lined up with the mic stand. Justin and Amanda were with us for this show.

Which puts Conor Oberst ten feet directly in front of me. With absolutely no security (we arrived during song 2), I got my good camera (Canon EOS 5D) with a good lens (24-70 2.8L) and a prime position (though the mic stand tends to be an issue). Most of the photos were ISO3200, which creates a ton of noise, but lets you get the shots.

The band played for almost two hours, and the set seemed heavy on songs from Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground with several from I'm Wide Awake, it's Morning and the new Cassadaga. He stayed far away from his amazing ballads like Lua, but got in several other great songs like Poison Oak, Arc of Time, and Lover I Don't Have to love. (still looking for the setlist).

[Update: Setlist]
1. at the bottom of everything
2. another traveling song
3. four winds
4. poison oak
5. method acting
6. spring cleaning
7. if the brakeman turns my way
8. classic cars
9. you will you will
10. arc of time
11. bowl of oranges
12. hit the switch
13. old soul song
Encore
14. lover i don't have to love
15. walls (tom petty)
16. roosevelt room

During the encore he mentioned that touring drummer Clay Leverett would be playing a solo set later at the Jackpot Saloon, so we decided to go there for a drink after the show to check it out.

About a half-hour later, most of the band, including opener Simon Joyner showed up, with only Conor Oberst and Nate Walcott absent. After Clay did his sound check (solo guitar, with the touring guitarist joining him on stage), Conor and Nate showed up, and the entire crew (or most of them, at least) went to the bar, got beers, and did a shot. Rock stars, indeed.

Surprisingly, very few people from the show came to the Jackpot (possibly because you have to be 21 to get into the Jackpot on a non-show night). And interestingly, the Jackpot had no knowledge of this set, or the fact that Conor Oberst just announced it to 2000 people at the Lied Center. But they made it work, albeit short-staffed for a surprise gig on a Tuesday night, where the normal crowd is 10 (which it was when we got there).

When Clay's set started, which consisted mostly of fun country songs, Conor walked to the stage to watch. As the set progressed, he began mixing with the crowd (which at that time was only about 30-40 people). Of course, the women were all giving him their best, which was fun to watch. He went on stage for the last song and about 10 people were singing into 2 mics. A 30 person Bright Eyes show. Not bad.

At one point I looked to my left and he was standing next to me. Wow. Then he was behind me, and I was with Tracie. I turned around and told him that Tracie keeps calling him "Colin" instead of "Conor", and asked if I could "formally" introduce them (on an aside, it can be terrifying introducing your hot wife to a true rock star - you begin to wonder how you can compare, and it aint lookin' good), so I made the introduction:

"Tracie, this is CONOR..."

He leans in (it was pretty loud) and says to her "It's Conor. CONOR". We all had a laugh and made it through the introduction without saying anything too stupid. What a night.

Unfortunately, the aftergig wasn't much of a "pull out the camera and be annoying" type of event, so we took no pictures to commemorate the event, although there's no chance in hell that I will forget it. By the time we left, the Jackpot was getting crowded as word spread that one of the greatest songwriters of our generation was there.

Lawrence has always been a magical town for me, all based on my music experiences there. I was in the green room at the Bottleneck with Filter after their first show ever. It was the place we first saw and met Ben Folds. We saw the Shins in February at the amazing venue "Liberty Hall". And now, this. Honestly, this is where the benefits of a small town come in. Had we been in New York, where Bright Eyes recently sold out 7 shows at Town Hall, or the Bay, where he just played the Greek Theater, or the recent Hollywood Bowl show in LA, we couldn't have gotten close. But here, we were third row (THANK YOU SARAH DONAHUE!) and got to hang out after the show. You gotta love the midwest.