More about: Bright Eyes

A stage cluttered with instruments awaits as the crowd begins to filter into the legendary art deco surroundings of the Eventim Apollo. An impressively varied demographic of young and old have come to fill out the venue and see a show that has now been over two years in the making.

One by one, musicians begin to take their place on stage, forming an impressively large backup band featuring local musicians as well as long-time members. The crowd cheer with excitement as frontman Conor Oberst appears. He pushes back his mop of dark hair and falls to his knees as the band erupts with sound. Launching into ‘Dance and Sing’, it’s clear from the offset that he is not a typical frontman. With an odd charisma, he casually strolls across the stage as his angsty croons just barely distract from the fact he looks like a 00s teenager who has somehow climbed on stage.

Despite looking somewhat out of place, he is undoubtedly the star of this show. In a sea of slick musicians, his gritty imperfections add to the depth of the performance as he wholeheartedly gives all to his highly emotive set. It’s not often that sad ballads steal the show, but Bright Eyes are surely the exception to this. Despite their career-spanning set mainly focusing on the heavier side of their discography, their more introspective tracks truly shine. “All my love songs end in tragedy,” says Oberst, but it’s that tragedy that brings chills to the audience as they sing along to tracks like ‘Poison Oak’ and ‘First Day of My Life’ with collective catharsis.

As the set goes on, Oberst begins to blather between songs, leaving the crowd to wonder more and more - is he drunk, or just odd? Questionable dance moves aside, he is corrected by his band multiple times on what key songs are in, and he even admits to asking the words of his final song before the encore, ‘Comet Song’. Like any typical London crowd, many started to leave before the encore, but looking around others shake their heads or laugh at the ramblings of Oberst on stage.

“I always feel a bit weird that all these songs are satirical and shitty and sad… I wouldn’t come to see me play,” laughs Oberst. Once named the ‘Best Songwriter of 2008’ by Rolling Stone, he was once a rising star who now sadly appears to be in decline. More and more, his act is feebly held together by charisma, muscle memory, and the assistance of his exceptional backing band.

Oberst jumps down and begins hugging members of the crowd as they play their final track ‘One For You, One For Me’. Opening act Penelope Isles join the stage in what feels like a final roll call of the night. Despite everything, Oberst’s talent shines through and most leave satisfied with smiles plastered across their faces. However, it is clear that the incoherence of the show mars what could have been a truly special evening.

See the photos from Phoebe Fox below:

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More about: Bright Eyes