Performances And Set Lists:
January 21 at the Cog Factory in Omaha, NE with Simon Joyner and The
Secret Behind Sunday
Set List and notes provided by Terry (www.mirror.org/terry.hickman/Index.htm).
1. An attempt to tip the scales (new? I don't know--have you heard of
it?)
2. Something vague (on the just-finished LP. It's kinda "On my way
to work--Part II")
3. I won't ever be happy again (also new, I think. He dedicated it to
Simon Joyner.)
4. No lies just love (I think this one's on the new album; it caused me
problems because I did
NOT want to start weeping in front of all those kids
who were already not happy I was
there! It's devastating!)
5. Sunrise/sunset (I'm not sure of this title--he did'nt say. It's pure
Oberst, though--you'll love
it.)
6. Love is real (His "happy" song for someone named Beth who
was there tonight. In the
middle of it, someone in the back yelled, "Give
us some fucking Happy!") It's also good,
though again, this may not be the actual title.
7. A new arrangement (from Every Day and Every Night)
Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA provided by debi
1. A song I had never heard before, possibly off the other new release not
Fevers and Mirrors.
2. Haligh, Haligh, A Lie, Haligh
3. A Movement of the Hand
4. Sunrise, Sunset (It was somewhere around here that I lost it and started to
cry almost uncontrollably.)
5. A Scale, A Mirror and Those Indifferent Clocks
6. I don't remember and there could possibly be 2 songs here. I'm not sure.
7. "Love is Real...."
8. A Perfect Sonnet
Caledonia Lounge, Athens, GA
1. Justice Song (anyone know the real title)
2. Something Vague
3. Padraic My Prince
4. The Movement of a Hand
5. New Song-no title, very mellow, Conor apologized afterwards.
5. Neely O'Hara
6. Sunrise, Sunset
7. "Love is Real"
The Khyber. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. May 30th.2000. submitted by gregory
1) a spindle, a darkness, a fever, and a necklace
2)haligh, haligh, a lie, haligh
3)movement of a hand
4)sunrise, sunset
5)"love is real"
6)neely o'hara
7)june on the west coast
8)a perfect sonnet
9)padraic my prince
10)going for the gold
brownies.
newyorkcity.new york. may 31st.2000.
well, it was basically the same set list, except "something vague"
was played
as an "encore."
The Sokol, Omaha, NE June 17th Submitted by Terry
Bands:
Gymnastics
Ambulance
Urban Legend
Bright Eyes
They ran out of time at the Sokol Saturday night due
to sound system problems at the beginning, so Urban
Legend had to cut their set short. Bright Eyes did
six songs, which is about what they've done the other
times I've seen them.
Set list:
1. Love is real
2. Sunrise/Sunset
3. The movement of a hand
4. Going for the gold (he said this is a new song,
about succeeding, and dedicated it to "my good friend
Pat. He's made me succeed." I think it's the one that
that radio station (?) web site made an impromptu
video of and put it on the internet. I think I got the
link off your site, Parker.)
5. Haligh, haligh, a lie, haligh
6. A perfect sonnet
The Ranch - Columbia, Mo 6-28-00.submitted by Byronw@streamsearch.com
Two of my friends and I drove around 2 hours to get to this show. It was
easily worth it. The locale was something of an indie hideaway camp. A
basement. Near a lake. And there were even indie kids playing four square
when we drove up. The first band we missed. The second was decent enough.
Their name included the word "babysitter" somewhere. Bright Eyes (Conor
backed by the black clad Faint guys in this incarnation) followed.
Songs played in no particular order and incomplete:
a movement of a hand
a perfect sonnet
if winter ends
sunrise, sunset
"love is real"
It was quite a good show, I thought. Conor had some trouble getting his
guitar in tune. Otherwise all the intensity and emotion that you'd expect
was there in force. The Faint followed and promptly tore the roof off the
place. Conor seemed to be their number one fan, screaming and jumping
around like a madman. His outbursts worked to loosen up the crowd and get everyone into the show. It was all very cool.
Bowery Ballroom in New York City. Friday, July 21. Submitted by Jwamonster@aol.com
1. A Song to Pass the Time
2. Something Vague
3. A New Arrangement
4. Kathy with a K's Song (introduced as "a new one coming out in
September as part of a split release with Ambulance."It's the song that starts with the lyrics "Love is real...")
5. The Movement of a Hand
6. When the Curious Girl Realizes She Is Under Glass
7. Sunrise, Sunset
8. Some slow song that I didn't know which was introduced as "an old
one."
July 18 Bright Eyes Show at the 40 Watt Club in Athens by Robin Lasher
1. We entered the venue at around 10:45 (a), and it was way more crowded than my companions (Patrick, Gretchen, Greg, and Jason) expected. I, however, had been thinking that Grandaddy, the headliner, would attract a crowd, since Album 88, the resident college music station in Atlanta, has been playing the heck out of the new album. (b)
2. Bright Eyes began to set up on stage. Conor was wearing a light blue t-shirt that read “Summer Plans For Wellness”. He had on flip flops. Every once and a while, one of his bandmates would say something and he would smile. (c) It was noted that once again, Bright Eyes had an almost completely different line-up than last time they came through town (d)… the drummer had a studio look about him, Patrick wondered if the keyboard playerwas Conor’s brother, and the flute player was the same. I think her name is Jiha Lee (according to the Fevers and Mirrors album). She was talking from the stage to some kids standing near us, as well as an older asian woman. So I assumed they were her friends and family. This would explain…
3. The prominent Jiha presence in the show. Last time I saw Bright Eyes, she sat demurely on the stage until her flute skills were needed, maybe 3 songs. This time she sang or played on every song, both flute and bass. Patrick was not very impressed by her bass playing, and from a non-musician stand-point, I must concur that it didn’t look like she was doing much on the bass. But I do enjoy the strong flute presence on “Fevers and Mirrors”, and her voice was pretty when accompanying Conor.
4. From “Fevers and Mirrors” Bright Eyes played “Something Vague”, “When the Curious Girl realizes”, “Sunrise, Sunset”, “The Movement of a Hand” and perhaps some others I can’t recall. I didn’t recognize any of the other songs, perhaps they are new, perhaps my Bright Eyes discography is not up to par. The last song they played had lyrics that went something like, “Sorry that I woke you, I know it’s late” and it was very sweet in that tortured, yearning way that Conor does so well (evoking both Holden Caulfield and Timothy Hutton in Ordinary People, two of my favorite tortured young males)
5. Throughout the show, a large crowd was pressed towards the stage. My friend Jason, who had brought his video camera to record the show, was hard pressed to find an adequate angle in the mess of people, and when I turned around, the venue was packed. And it should be noted that while Grandaddy had a good crowd, there was more room to breathe by the time they went on. So Bright Eyes fans abound.
6. My only complaint would be that the song selections prevented much flipping out on Conor’s part…its fun to watch him get all intense and move in motion with the guitar, but he remained relatively reserved throughout most of the show. But I enjoyed it.
Notes
(a) Some will enjoy this anecdote…before the show, we drove from Atlanta and
headed to The Grit, an Athen’s vegetarian restaurant, for dinner. We walk in,
and sitting two tables away is Jeff Mangum, brilliant Neutral Milk Hotel
frontman, Elephant 6 recording collective member, and general man about town in
Athens. Gretchen and I begin to get very giggly. The host asks us how many
people we are, and Gretchen stammers, “4”. HE SEATS US RIGHT NEXT TO JEFF! We
are beside ourselves with giddy admiration. He is eating alone. We try not to
stare. When we realize that we actually will have 5 diners, and our table is
designed for 4, it is of no matter. Watching Jeff Mangum dine on chili and
cornbread is infinitely more important than comfortable table space. When
Jason, the 5th diner, arrives he has to ask Jeff to borrow a chair. Wheee!…how
exciting. Soon after, Jeff pays his bill by credit card (Gretchen notes
the lack of cash in his wallet) and heads off into the sunset on his bike, and
old looking schwinn. His credit card receipt lies on the neighboring
table, and we restrain ourselves from grabbing it. We are, after all, adults.
(b) As expected, Jeff Mangum was at the show (not as exciting as seeing him
eat, understandably). But perhaps not until the Grandaddy set. So what does he
know anyway.
(c) I was struck by the straightness of Conor’s teeth…they were perfect in that
suburban orthodontist/mom makes you get braces
in seventh grade/idyllic
childhood kind of way. So where does he get all
this angst?
September 22, 2000 Tucson, AZ. posted by Mark Bulthaup
Last night some friends and me went to the Bright Eyes show in Tucson, AZ and I
thought I would send in a show review. In a word, amazing. In a bunch of words,
the whole story:
The show was held at an art gallery in downtown Tucson. The doors were set to open at 9 with Her Space Holiday to start about 10. As you have it, the doors opened at 10 and the show started about 10 minutes after that. Right before the Her Space Holiday set I saw Conor walk through the door, wearing his normal olive drab shirt. I went up to him and talked to him about the previous night’s show and got him to sign my poster for the show. We didn’t talk long as the set began. Her Space Holiday was awesome. They played somewhere around 7 songs. Very nice set and they sounded great. I had never heard their music before but must say I was impressed. Conor took the stage with his band. They played a 9 song set, which went as follows:
1) Conor didn’t say the name of this song. I can’t really remember how it
went either. Sorry.
2) Sunrise, Sunset – Conor was rocking out on this one. He was his normal self
almost falling off the chair he was getting into the music so much. Really cool
watching him play this one
3) February Fifteenth
4) The Movement of a Hand.
5) When the Curious Girl Realizes she is Under Glass
6) Conor stated this one was “a love song” and dedicated it to Mark and Keely
or something to that effect. I didn’t really hear. It was another song I had
never heard before. It was a slow song and after it was done Conor apologized
for playing such a “pussy” song.
7) Conor said it was time to rock again and broke into Haligh, Haligh, a Lie,
Haligh
8) A scale, A Mirror and those Indifferent Clocks
9) Finally he played the song that starts “Love is real” that I guess he plays
often at shows. It was a great ending to a great show.
Conor thanked everyone for coming and left the stage. He said that they might need a place to stay the night during his set, so I figured what did I have to loose and offered him to stay at our place. He said that they had taken care of it and thanked us for coming and the offer. We congratulated him on a great show and he thanked us again. We bought some T-shirts and some CDs and took off. That’s the evening.
Leeds (UK), Brudenell Social Club, 2nd November 2000 posted by karine
1. An Attempt To Tip The Scales
2. Sunrise, Sunset
3. When The Curious Girl Realizes She Is Under Glass
4. A Line Allows Progress, A Circle Does Not
5. ?
6. The Calendar Hung Itself
7. ?
8. Padraic My Prince
9. ?
10. February Fifteenth
---
11. Love Is Real
Leeds (UK), The Rocket, 3rd May 2001 (supporting Arab Strap) karine
1. The difference in the shades
2. Arienette
3. Pull my hair
4. The calendar hung itself
5. Drunk kid catholic
6. June on the west coast
7. Kathy with a K's song
Kathy's review of the SXSW show, March 18th, 2000. Austin, TX.
on march 16th, i began a journey destined to land me in
austin, texas at
the time of the sxsw music conference. how my attendance at the sxsw was
possible is quite a serendipitous story, which for sake of space, i'll
quickly summarize. i met parker through the website. when we found out bright
eyes would be playing, we discussed the possibility of making the trip down.
a week prior to the conference, parker wrote me saying he had secured a
rental car for him and his roommate, greg, to make the journey. i was also
invited. so on thursday the 16th, i drove down to atlanta, so the three of us
could make the trip to austin.
as the miles between me and atlanta shortened, i was afraid.
just who
were these parker and greg characters? what would they be like? how was i
going to ride a total of 28 hours in a car with two people i didn't know?
what if they were serial killers or worse, what if they liked bright eyes and
98 degrees concurrently?
upon my arrival to atlanta, i met greg first. he walked me
in the house
and introduced me to parker. imagine being introduced to someone you barely
know, by someone who you know even less. it was quite a strange moment.
that evening we spent the night preparing for the trip and
getting to
know one another. i could go into the gory details of the preparation, but
for space sake, i'll spare you. all i will tell you is that we made 2 flags
with anarchy symbols to fly from the windows in the small towns. after a long
night of questions, answers, hysterical laughter, and planning, we fell
asleep.
the following morning, we quickly got ready. due to the fact
we were in a
rush, we drove to the rental car facility with our coffee cups. so close your
eyes and imagine this: 2 guys and 1 girl walk into a nice rental car place
with their messy hair, t-shirts and jeans, with cups of coffee glued to their
lips. while undergoing the interrogation by our friendly rental agent, we
managed to drain the office's supply of coffee. now, an important point is
that our rental agreement was that we were getting a car to travel within the
southeastern states. for those of you who failed geography, texas is nowhere
close to being located in the southeast it did present an awkward moment when
the question arose as to our destination.
rental agent: "so, where are you guys headed this weekend?"
kathy and greg take this opportunity to take a large gulp of their coffee.
parker: "oh...you know (long pause)....around"
this answer was sufficient and she handed over the keys to a new pontiac
bonneville. yes, new. only a couple hundred miles on it. as the three of us
drove off smiling and waving at our friendly rental agent, we felt a tinge of
guilt- knowing we'd be returning the car with over 2,000 miles on it.
we arrived in austin around 10pm. elliott smith was playing
at 11pm.
hoping to catch some of his set, we quickly parked the car and began walking
through the city. when we arrived at the club, there were hundreds of people
waiting to get a mere glimpse of mr. smith. there would be no chance for us
to see elliott smith, so we decided to move on.
next on our agenda was tristeza. they were scheduled to play
at 1 am. so
for the time in between, we walked the streets of austin. we had a slice of
pizza. we watched some girl throw up right next to us. we waded through a
crowded street of people, all of whom were drinking green beer. oh yes. it
was st. patrick's day.
around 1am, we walked into the club where tristeza was
playing. i had
never been exposed to them; however, parker talked very highly of them.
tristeza is a band on tiger style records. they play instrumental music. i've
never been one for instrumental rock music, as i'm generally lyrically
inclined; however, as i stood at the front of the stage, all i can honestly
say is that i was deeply moved. lyrics were not necessary, every emotion and
thought was portrayed within the instruments. not to mention the drummer is
incredible to watch.
after the show, we were headed to a wedding (don't ask).
when we walked
outside, we ran right into conor and the whole bright eyes crew. it was a
wonderful surprise, as i hadn't seen conor in seven months. we talked about
the show the next night and then quickly ran off to our other festivities.
due to some unexplainable circumstances, we did not make it
to the
wedding and instead found ourselves in the middle of austin at three in the
morning, attempting to find comfortable lodging for the night.
aaron and katie, the individuals we were to stay with, were
old friends
of parker and greg. direct contact had never been established, as aaron and
katie didn't have a phone yet. all we had to rely on was a vague address and
the name of the apartment building. through a very frustrating process, we
discovered the address we had was useless. we drove around the apartment
buildings frantically searching for any piece of evidence that might lead us
to aaron and katie. suddenly, frustrated and tired, parker stopped the car.
at that moment, he looked up (possibly searching for an answer from god)- and
he happened to catch site of a rancid poster from a window. he knew this was
the place. we found the door and knocked. we were welcomed in.
the next morning, katie cooked us a gourmet breakfast to
rejuvenate us
for another long day. that day, we were to attend a free show that had been
put together by insound and featured some tiger style artists, including
tristeza. unfortunately we missed her space holiday, but were able to see the
oxes (a very entertaining trio) and tristeza (yes, again).
after the free show, we had dinner and went to a grocery
store to
purchase some beer as a gift for aaron and katie. we then headed to the club
where the saddle creek showcase would be taking place. we wanted to arrive
early. we had hopes of talking to conor before the show. we definitely
arrived early enough. we were probably the first few to arrive. so to waste
time, we sat in the car, getting methodically drunk (we broke into the beer
gift), listening to "fevers and mirrors". yes, we felt like total
dorks
listening to the band we were about to see, but we shed our facades of
coolness for the evening.
we eventually joined the crowd that formed inside. i ran
into conor right
when i walked in and was able to talk to him for quite a while. we caught up
on some old times and he told me they would be touring the east coast this
summer.
the faint began playing and interrupted our conversation.
once i heard
them playing, i totally didn't mind. the faint were so awesome. two
keyboards, drums, and guitar. a yellow light shining up on the face of the
singer. maybe it was the alcohol, but i swore it sounded like he had an
english accent. i found myself dancing. the whole vibe from the faint is a
very sexy 80's vibe. sexy in the way that i was surprised that the dance
floor didn't pair off in twos to make out in the bathroom.
after the faint, cursive played. cursive is much more rock
n' roll than
the faint, but equally as awesome. halfway through cursive's set, i began
anticipating bright eyes, who would be playing next. after cursive, the three
of us spoke to the drummer from tristeza, who was very nice and entertained
all our weird and strange questions. greg and i got the opportunity to talk
to tim from cursive. some of you may remember that tim played accordion with
bright eyes for a while. tim is an extremely friendly guy and also tolerated
our interrogation.
and finally the moment we've all been waiting for, bright
eyes was up
next. we secured a place near the front. conor, as usual had a different line
up behind him. accompanying him was mike mogis, a flute player, casey and
andy (from the now defunct band, drip, from athens), and a new drummer. it
was incredible as it always is. conor was manic. his body convulsing and
shaking during the climatic moments of each tortured song. most of the
material was new (from "fevers and mirrors", "every day and
every night" and
a few unreleased songs). i'll capture a few of the special moments for you:
1) conor said one song was about "losin' love". hmm. strange. i
always
thought a majority of the songs were about that.
2) conor dedicated his happy song, "love is real..." to me. i
think i may
have blushed and felt extremely blessed.
3) conor broke a string right before he started the 2nd verse of
"sunrise
sunset". when he realized it, he said, innocently, "i broke the only
string i
really needed". at first he attempted to play the song using a different
note/string; however, this was impossible. luckily someone loaded him a
different guitar to finish the set. conor seemed dismayed with this whole
scene and started the song over from the beginning.
4) before playing his last 2 songs, people began to scream out songs for him
to play. he stopped and said, "now those are all very good choices;
however,
they're just not mine" and broke into the next song.
5) the last song was "a perfect sonnet," which made me breakdown
into tears
as it always does.
the show overall went fabulously well. at the end of the set, the three of
us
hugged. not just because we were all intoxicated, but because we drove 14
hours for that show. it had fulfilled our expectations and our journey was
coming to an end. but not without meeting robb, the guy who runs saddle
creek.
we all stood around him, taking our turns at asking
questions and
commending him on such an excellent job with the label. it was a nice moment.
to meet the guy behind it all.
right before we left, i wanted to say goodbye to conor;
however, he was
sitting in the exclusive BANDS ONLY room. after driving fourteen hours, this
small sign on the door was no deterrent for me. i walked right in and said
goodbye. conor gave me a kiss on the cheek and told me he would see me on the
east coast. he told me to tell the boys (parker and greg) goodbye.
finally we made it back to aaron and katie's (and i say
finally, cause
there was quite a bit that happened between the goodbye to conor and the
arrival at their apartment). when we got there, we discovered we only had one
beer left from our gift; however, we presented it to them regardless. the
three wisemen show up bearing only one budweiser. nonetheless, they were
pleased.
one more night of sound sleep. the journey was almost over.
only the
drive from austin to atlanta separated us. we started driving back the next
morning. we recollected on our experiences and quietly reflected on our
lives. we relived some experiences and laughed our way home. we arrived back
in atlanta at 3am. we returned our bonneville. i was personally devastated
with this separation from our vehicle of exploration. i also knew i would
miss my new found friends, parker and greg.
my head was frantic with thoughts, so i set off for
charlotte in the
middle of the night. i pulled into my house at 8am. i didn't sleep until
later that night. the whole weekend had been incredible. a moment captured. a
dream come true. it was the beginning of spring. i'd never forget this one.
now there was only one question that remained unanswered.
something the
three of us couldn't reconcile during our three days together. so now the
burden falls on you. email parker and let him know your thoughts and i'm sure
he'll compile them at sometime and explain the story behind it.
Q: How would you describe a "super-tomato"? what characteristics
would it
have?
we desperately need an answer. thanks.
kathy
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