Sometimes music is the only truth you need. On a hot and steamy Friday night in London, I was happy Conor Oberst was the only truth I could hear. I must admit I've long been a captive fan of the song 'First Day Of My Life', so much so that I hadn't really noticed the rest of his body of work. But none of that mattered, he had me at 'Hello', or rather at the opening song 'Time Forgot'. In his cowboy hat, mysterious lighting silhouetting him to the audience, he didn't talk for the the longest time, instead he just sung his truths into our ear. But I like that, it added to the mystery.
As he switched between Bright Eyes classics and some of the newer songs from the recently released 'Upside Down Mountain', he almost apologised for playing the new material. But he needn't have, as I'm sure the audience agreed with the guy who yelled out, 'Its a beautiful album mate!'. His songs haven't lost their potency or their poetry, I'm as much a fan of 'Zigzagging Towards the Light' as I am of 'We are Nowhere and its Now'. He performed all with equal urgency in his aching voice, and despite the fact that, as my friend pointed out, he is 34 and married now, I believed he felt every word as he highlighted his points with energetic guitar strokes, and paced in frantic circles during the chorus. The banter when it came was equally as truthful. Having played festivals for the last few weeks, he admitted, 'I don't know how they do it', 'the punters that is', 'rolling up night after night'…'I advise against it', he said as he launched into 'Governor's Ball', a song about festivals.
I confess I amassed a little crush on the man in black with his cowboy hat, and swooned along with audience when he would lift it, seemingly along with the mystery, to reveal the man beneath. Conor Oberst you can come and wash away my troubles any time. You made everything in the evening seem easy, that in the morning is such a drag!
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