Conor Oberst @ The Fox Theater Pomona (10.3.12)



Conor Oberst

There's been a thought rattling around my head for a while that Conor Oberst is our generation's equivalent of a Bob Dylan that grew up without the war, segregation, and massive cultural upheaval. Granted some of those things have happened in recent times, but not on the same scale. 

One of the interesting early elements of Bob Dylan is his relationship to Joan Baez.  I would never dare claim that Oberst and Jenny Lewis are as close, but there does seem to be a symbiotic relationship between them.  Having now seen Lewis and Oberst on stage together, I found that there was something reminiscent of the iconic pair.

As this was the night of the first debates Oberst was particularly talkative about how he felt that there was no hope and change this time around, just two guys with one slightly less bad to vote for.  He leaned over into the crowd, looked at people and interacted with them. Oberst spat quite a bit, mostly not on people (just on the stage) but when he was shouting it would occasionally fly. There was a feeling he spoke from a place of raw, bitter unchecked emotion, slightly falling apart at the seams.  He managed to keep it together and it was nice to see how strongly he felt about the well crafted words in his songs.

Going into the show I was wondering what kind of material we would hear given it was a show billed as Conor Oberst, not Bright Eyes.  Sometimes when artists plays under his own name it can mean he intends not to play songs from the other moniker. It ended up being a variety of songs, including his Bright Eyes material (even the electronic album), songs from the Mystic Valley Band, and a song from the Monsters of Folk.  In other words Conor Oberst, Bright Eyes, The Mystic Valley Band, and bits of the Monsters of Folk were all at the Fox Theater in Pomona tonight and we were all the better for it.

The night was full of guests. Opener Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins returned to the stage to back Oberst up for "Make a Plan to Love Me" and "Lua." 

Conor Oberst and Friends

A little later in the performance Oberst, introduced a "Mystic Valley Band Reunion" giving the impression no one liked what they were doing. As he put it, "No one hated the MVB more than the MVB itself."   While I would say its true that more people prefer the Bright Eyes records, I quite enjoyed the MVB.  In fact, I thought they put on the most enthusiastic performance of the night.  At the end of the night, everyone returned to the stage to sing "Make War."  Followed by an acoustic number by Oberst.

Tonight's show was a hodgepodge of performers, material and songs.  Honestly I think I preferred seeing that to a just Bright Eyes show.


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* Authors note: Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins


Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins

Jenny Lewis. Wow. Was surprised by her. I liked her country oriented stuff more, but overall it was good material. Some of the people there were clearly there to see her. The Watson Twins performed with her all night as backup. Not knowing who they were at the time, when they came on stage, I fought back a "boo" because I loath backup singers.  The twins won me over with their beautiful voices and corny 1950's style dancing with Lewis. That and because one of them played something for a bit. It looked a bit like a lapslide but I think it may have been some keys... Not sure at this point.

To close Lewis did a guitar and choir song called Acid Tongue reminiscent of Dylan singing blowing in the wind with Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary, Pete Seeger and other backing him up at the end of the Montgomery folk festival.

Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins

Nice touch to close a set.