Bright Eyes is in the third and final stage of their world tour. First, they played songs from Wide Awake It's Morning, then co-headlined with the Faint to play songs solely from Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. Now, this tour is billed as an all-encompassing Bright Eyes tour, with songs from not just one album, but his entire discography. It should also be a "back to the basics" show, because this time there weren't any fancy media effects or anything of the sort. Conor in a simple setting? Too hard to believe, and too hard to resist.
We got to UC Davis a little after a one hour drive. It was really congested on the 80, especially from Berkeley to the bridge. But once we got past that mess, it was smooth sailing from there. When we got there, our first agenda was to eat. This search for food was a pretty intensive task. Like hunters in the wild, we searched high and low for a semi-decent place to eat. We got extremely lost around the campus, looking for a Pluto's that was supposedly on D St. and 2nd Ave. that was told to us by a nice girl in the espresso bar at the UC Davis cafeteria. After walking around in circles for a good 15 minutes, we decided to go back to the espresso girl and eat the hard breadsticks, hours old pizza and ultra greasy veggie egg rolls.
We go into Freeborn Hall with the lining of our stomachs severely damaged, only waiting for the opportunity to just relax and get drinks. Well, that wasn't going to happen either because Freeborn Hall is a NO ALCOHOL venue! I'm no alcolholic (ignore what happened this Friday), but I do enjoy a nice bevvy when watching a show. Why Conor would pick a dry venue to play in is beyond me, because I don't think he can stand doing that either.
We saw a bit of Sons & Daughters. I knew a little about them since I do have Repulsion Box in my iPod. Of the few songs I recognized, they were pretty good. They sounded a bit like the Kills with a Franz Ferdinand potential. They are rough around the edges, but a good band full of raw energy. I don't like the girl's dancing however. Otherwise, they were okay.
We decided to get close for Bright Eyes, but surrendered and opted for the bleachers way in the back. It was good to sit down, but the vantage point was a little too far and I can barely make out Conor other than his skinny black tie. They came on around 10:30 or so and immediately launched into something old -- "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fevers and Mirrors. I don't think I ever saw Bright Eyes play anything off of that album, but then again, I am fairly new to Bright Eyes as of Lifted. They also played "The Calendar Hung Itself" from Fevers and Mirrors.
My spirits were raised when he played "You Will...," which is one of my favourite songs off of Lifted, and "False Advertising." Lifted is the first album that really turned me a Bright Eyes and a Conor fan so I immediately cherished each song played from that album. As far as I can recall, these are the only songs played from that album.
He also played a bunch of stuff that I did not recognize. I think he played a song off of A Collection of Songs but I don't know what those were.
From Wide Awake, he played "Old Soul Song (for the New World Order)." A disappointing part of the set was the absence of "Lua." I really like that song, and it upsets me that they didn't play it here in Davis when they played it in Reno.
Throughout the main set, Bright Eyes were a bit off. Or was it the venue? Or the sound? Or the people? Or maybe Conor wasn't into it? I'm not sure, but I think it's a combination of all five factors that contributed to a show that is not one of Conor's finest. There was utter silence between songs, with little chatter from Conor. Don't know if that's a good or a bad thing, but I remember him interacting a bit more in the previous shows. Also, the crowd was jsut so chill that it prompted one couple sitting in the row in front of us to leave. "I'm going to fall asleep," the girl said.
As for Conor, I think he was drinking while the rest of us were bone dry. The band as a whole was good, but there was just a certain lack of energy from Conor that wasn't present until the very last song of the set. I can't put my finger on it.
Even though I was confined to this seat far away from the stage, I still enjoyed the show. I wanted to enjoy it a little more by standing up, but I think that was a good idea at the end because of the long drive home.
The second to the last song of the set was "Gold Mine Gutted." Even though Digital Ash isn't a great album like Lifted or Wide Awake, "Gold Mine Gutted" is, in my opinion, one of Conor's best songs. I think the instrumentation in this song is excellent. The visuals were great when Conor toured Digital Ash and I wished he did the same here.
Overall, it was a good show just for the fact that I get to hear a variety Bright Eyes songs spanning his entire discography that haven't been played in a while. As for the long drive, the fact that there were no drinks, poor sound and the lack of energy on Conor and the crowd, that's why the show got a . . .
Beer Rating:
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