Bright Eyes Bust

Singer smashes guitar and walks off stage

04 Jul 2007 - Bright Eyes played a short but sweet show at the Shepherds Bush Empire in West London last night.

Conor Oberst stormed off for an early encore after throwing an amp on his failing guitar.  But fans weren't put off, describing his performance with a full stage of cellos, violins and percussion all dressed in white as 'heavenly'. The flower filled stage glowed with warmth as a colourful video backdrop was improvised by an artist throughout the set.

It's one of only a handful of dates he's playing in the UK to support the release of his new single 'Hot Knives'. He captivated the audience with a setlist of predominantly new songs from the latest 'Cassadaga' album.

The guitar wasn't working so he looked a bit annoyed, put the guitar down and threw the amp on the guitar to break it.  It was a bit nerve wracking at that point, I thought it was the end of the show...
Bright Eyes fan

Moving away from his more intimate solo performances, Oberst commanded the stage playing fuller orchestral versions of classics such as 'First Day of My Life'.  The usually quiet lead singer even chatted between songs...

"I love this theatre. I played here in 2001 but I just sat on a stool and didn't look at the audience".

The set list was:

Clairaudients (Kill Or Be Killed)
Hot Knives
MiddleMan
First Day of My Life
Four Winds
Make a plan to love me
No one would riot for less
The calendar hung itself
Soul singer in a session band
I won't ever be happy
Lime tree
I believe in symmetry 

Gold Mine Gutted
Southern State
At the bottom of everything

Bright Eyes are playing a second date at Shepherd's Bush Empire tonight.


Ellie Davis