Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band in concert
Eliot Rosewater
Posts: 2,659
I just got home from the 2nd night of a back-to-back seeing this band. I know PJ spoils us with the large variety of songs they play from show to show but I was very impressed with how Conor mixed it up. Mostly the same songs, with only a few changes. But the order of songs tonight (Salt Lake City, UT) made for a completely different feel than last night (Moab, UT).
I can't say enough about this band. They really were fantastic. Conor is a class act and his voice has just been spot on. Both shows are in my top 10 concerts I've ever seen...and I've been to more than a few. I saw Bright Eyes a couple years ago and I'd never felt older in my life. I'm barely 30 but back then the place was swarmed with tweens. I think the content in his post-Bright Eyes albums attract a much more stable crowd.
Last night was a 200 seat theater in the desert, very intimate, the slow songs just seemed to resonate a little more and I think it helped to truly appreciate them. Tonight was at Library Square - a small grassy area outside the SLC library. After raining all damn day it finally stopped at show time and turned into a decent but still wet night. The fast songs seemed faster and since the grass was soaked everyone had to stand and made it seem a little more rockin'. And what a great stage presence he's got. It's always great when you can tell they're having fun and love what they're doing.
I love that between his last two albums there are a lot of rockers that I can belt out while I'm alone in my car and also a lot of soft and gentle songs that I can fall asleep to after coming home and changing out of my wet clothes.
I can't say enough about this band. They really were fantastic. Conor is a class act and his voice has just been spot on. Both shows are in my top 10 concerts I've ever seen...and I've been to more than a few. I saw Bright Eyes a couple years ago and I'd never felt older in my life. I'm barely 30 but back then the place was swarmed with tweens. I think the content in his post-Bright Eyes albums attract a much more stable crowd.
Last night was a 200 seat theater in the desert, very intimate, the slow songs just seemed to resonate a little more and I think it helped to truly appreciate them. Tonight was at Library Square - a small grassy area outside the SLC library. After raining all damn day it finally stopped at show time and turned into a decent but still wet night. The fast songs seemed faster and since the grass was soaked everyone had to stand and made it seem a little more rockin'. And what a great stage presence he's got. It's always great when you can tell they're having fun and love what they're doing.
I love that between his last two albums there are a lot of rockers that I can belt out while I'm alone in my car and also a lot of soft and gentle songs that I can fall asleep to after coming home and changing out of my wet clothes.
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BTW, awesome sign in name, one of my favorite books
yeah start with a bright eyes album.... lifted, im wide awake its morning or cassadaga
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Cassadaga might be best. It's pretty diverse, so you can get a taste for all his different styles. Also, Conor's voice on the earlier albums is really an acquired taste... I know a lot of people that refused to even give him a chance becos of his voice at first. Lifted is a great album, but only if you're truly willing to give it a shot. So Cassadaga gets my vote. Or if you want to be even briefer, the Four Winds EP is excellent. It's only 6-7 songs, but basically a Cliffs Notes for Cassadaga with a ton of killer songs. And it'd be cheaper and easier to digest.
Conor and the Mystic Valley band are incredible live. I saw them last fall with my gf and was worried I'd not have a good time. I'd seen Bright Eyes before and they were excellent but the crowd was a bit much, and we had gone to another stellar concert the night before (kol on halloween), so we were kinda tired and the bar had been set high. But the show was so much fun... I haven't seen a band playing straight ahead Americana rock with that much joy since the Black Crowes.
Fucking spectacular IMO, very folkish.
Mine was as well until Cassadaga came out, im actually listening to it now.
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Sha la la la i'm in love with a jersey girl
I love you forever and forever
Adel 03 Melb 1 03 LA 2 06 Santa Barbara 06 Gorge 1 06 Gorge 2 06 Adel 1 06 Adel 2 06 Camden 1 08 Camden 2 08 Washington DC 08 Hartford 08
nice, i'll be at the show as well.
i think i'm wide awake is easily his best album, lifted is not far behind. i'm surprised with all the cassadaga recommendations. it was a good album, but not really even on the level of i'm wide awake which is nearly perfect. just don't get anything before lifted to start out with.
Really? I was at their show at the Vic last fall... yeah, the crowd was dead, but I still thought the band was great.
Sha la la la i'm in love with a jersey girl
I love you forever and forever
Adel 03 Melb 1 03 LA 2 06 Santa Barbara 06 Gorge 1 06 Gorge 2 06 Adel 1 06 Adel 2 06 Camden 1 08 Camden 2 08 Washington DC 08 Hartford 08
what?!?!?! Cassadaga is awesome! My wife, who is a huge bright eyes fan, was not big on it at all either when it first came out, she opened up to it and now she loves it, man so many great songs, brakeman turns my way, make a plan to love me, and possibly the best song conor has ever written in I Must Belong Somewhere.
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I don't think they did when I saw them, and I wouldn't expect any Bright Eyes stuff. Conor seems pretty content to let Bright Eyes alone.
The band was pretty good and his vocals were on...he just seemed to have a very negative vibe with him and it didn't seem like he was really enjoying himself. That's why I was considering going to show in july just to see if maybe there's a better crowd that he can kinda work with. Haven't heard the new album. any good?
I really like it, but it's kinda different. A lot of the other band members write and sing on the songs, so it sounds very eclectic. It's like an album by the Band from back in the day. Very rootsy with a lot of laid back jams. Kinda in the vein of the last Wilco album actually.
My favorite Bright Eyes is Lifted, I think hers is Fevers & Mirrors.
I haven't heard his new stuff, need to pick it up.