Bright Eyes @ Town Hall

May 30th, 2007 - by John

Folk, NYC, Shows

The Town Hall is a great venue and it also has a very interesting origin. Excuse me as I paraphrase/lift from their web site. The theatre was commissioned as a meeting place by the League for Political Education, a group whose purpose was to facilitate passage of the19th Amendment- women’s right to vote. Town Hall was designed to reflect the democratic principles of the League; box seats were eliminated and no seats had an obstructed view – giving birth to the phrase “not a bad seat in the house.” The Hall opened on January 12, 1921 (less than a year after the 19th Amendment was ratified) and over the years the venue has hosted some of the best and most controversial musicians and politicos.

I have never attended a lecture there but it’s a wonderful place to see a show. The sound is excellent and the crowd is (usually) there to pay attention. Not always the case in this part of the world. Times Square (Town Hall is on 43rd Street) is certainly a different animal some 86 years later- but we braved the tourists this past Friday to catch the first evening of Bright Eyes’ seven-night sold-out stand.

Gillian (pronounced “Gill” ian, not “Jill” ian to my surprise) Welch and David Rawlings opened the evening with an hour set that featured material from across Gillians’ recordings including; “Orphan Girl,” “My First Lover,” “Elvis Presley Blues,” and “Everything Is Free” – a song that according to Welch IS what you think it’s about. Other highlights included “No One Knows My Name” and “I Want To Sing That Rock And Roll” The two shared a camaraderie that was confident and comfortable (try saying that three times fast). There was plenty of great vocal harmonizing and lead guitar parts that were smoothly complimentary, if slightly canned. The duo closed with an admirable performance of the Johnny Cash/June Carter classic “Jackson.”

Bright Eyes took the stage as a massive band. In addition to the three permanent members Mike Mogis, Nate Walcott and Conor Oberst the evening’s ensemble also included two drummers (one being Janet Weiss), and a mini orchestra featuring cellos, woodwinds and violins. There were probably about 12 or 13 folks on stage. Oberst looked sharp in an all white suit, as did the rest of his entourage, also dressed all in white. The opening set leaned heavily on Bright Eyes’ most recent release Cassadaga featuring “Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed)”, “Hot Knives,” “Middleman” and “Make a Plan to Love Me” which Oberst introduced as a song about being in love with a workaholic. A rocking version of “Four Winds,” the fiddle driven first single from the new record was probably the highlight from the new material. A cool element to show were the projected images being shown behind the band. An artist used several different mediums including markers, paint, light, and even an Etch A Sketch to create a live backdrop which was actually quite fun to watch.

As promised there was a special guest, the room went crazy when Lou Reed took the stage and joined the band for performances of “Dirty Blvd.” and “Waiting For My Man”. It’s just about the most New York thing we could think of commented Oberst. “First Day of My Life” was the lone representitve from 2005’s excellent I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning in the first set- but it was a cool revved up version fully utilizing the whole band. Obrest also pulled out “The Calendar Hung Itself…” from 2003’s Fevers and Mirrors, dedicating the cut to only person who ever broke his heart. The set concluded with “I Believe in Symmetry” and a simple stripped down version of “Lime Tree” one of my personal favorites from the new album.

The encore saw Welch and Rawlings return to the stage for a cover of Gillian’s “Miss Ohio” and the appropriate closer “Lua” – any New Yorker can relate to trying to get home on a cold night and taxis that just keep turning their lights off. Here’s to town hall and Conor Obrest for continuing the tradition of compelling artistic content.

Here’s a video of Bright Eyes and Lou Reed: