Bright Eyes at DAR Constitution Hall 11-11-07

Welcome back faithful reader(s?). Indie rock wunderkind Conor Oberst took the stage at Washington DC's historic (well, mostly historic because the racist bastards that ran the place didn't let Marian Anderson play there in 1939) with his Bright Eyes band mates on a chilly, rainy fall evening. After the Felice Brothers (4 bros from New York, if you are scoring at home) opened the show with a interesting bluegrass infused set , Bright Eyes entered and immediately broke into a song I didn't know, so much for making an impression. They followed that up with a song I did know, "Another Travelin' Song" off of 2005's I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. The live version of "Travelin'" provided to be a nice twist on a familiar tune, with the percussion accurately mimicking a clanking locomotive on the way to some far off town. "Arc of Time" showed the bands ability to transition from their classic acoustic, indie rock into a hazy electronica sound. Conor showed off his trademark emotion and intimacy on "Lua" and "Poison Oak".
The highlights of the show came after the intermission, adding the accordion playing Felice brother for fan favorite "Bowl of Oranges". After this, the other three Felices and Nik Freitas joined Bright Eyes on stage. At this point I was a little puzzled. What angst ridden, depressed, self deprecating song could all these guys get into? Well to my surprise Conor led the band into Tom Petty's "Walls" (off the 1996 soundtrack of Jen Aniston flick "She's the One"). The song came off marvelously, providing an emotional release and getting everybody on stage dancing and having a great time. Unfortunately the young crowd didn't resonate the energy on stage, since most were probably in elementary school when the song was released.
The show ended with Oberst finally giving in to his political side, telling the crowd that he is over Bush, but if he ever saw ever saw Dick Cheney he would "knock that motherfucker out". With that the band broke into an up tempo, hard rock protest song that really isn't comparable to anything in their catalog. The crowd was caught off guard as the normally passive Oberst spit venom laced lyrics over power chords. As the song ended, Oberst slammed his amp to the ground and used his guitar to create feedback before walking off.
The setlist could have benefited from the addition of songs like "Middleman" or "Easy/Lucky/Free" and the show end with a perplexing mix of joy and rage, but Oberst and his Bright Eyes mates played a solid and passionate set that was a nice complement to their diverse catalog.