Even when I go see my favorite bands live, I have an incredibly short attention span for the sets. I get tired of standing really easily, my ears get tired of loud music easily (even with earplugs, sometimes), and I more often than not wish the sets would end about 20 minutes earlier than they usually do. I’ve felt this way while watching Death Cab For Cutie, Radiohead, The Faint, Superdrag, and in particular, Built to Spill.
However, once in a while, I see a band perform that doesn’t bore me at all, and actually leaves me wanting more. Some of the best concerts I’ve ever been to are Jimmy Buffett (my very first concert at 12 years old, and at the time, I was OBSESSED with Jimmy Buffett), The Streets (ultimate dance-party), and now, Spoon/Bright Eyes.
There were two other opening acts; Willy Mason and David Dondero. I missed Willy Mason because I showed up a little bit late, but I caught most of David Dondero’s set, and it was great- he played beautiful folk songs that were both funny and sweet, and he was accompanied only by a drummer, which added great dynamic. THEN! Spoon came on! WOWOWOWOW
Spoon recently became one of my favorite bands ever, and the fact that they happened to be playing a show with Bright Eyes at one of Omaha’s best venues (The Orpheum) was just awesome. Plus, I had Orchestra seats, and was four rows back from the stage. Spoon started off the set with the first track on their newest album, Gimme Fiction, which is the song “The Beast and Dragon Adored.” People went nuts. They played at least a few songs off of each of their last three albums, and I knew and sang along to every song. Their energy was amazing, their performance was immaculate, and Britt Daniel is so very, very cool. Everyone else was just a little guy compared to him (I believe Britt Daniel is 50 feet tall).
After they were done, I went and got a drink, drank it while in line for the bathroom, and by the time I had finished totally bathrooming, Bright Eyes came on. The first time I ever say Bright Eyes, it was just Conor, and he played songs off of albums that hadn’t come out yet (Wide Awake and Digital Ash)… while it was a good show, I like to sing along. The second time I saw Bright Eyes, it was in support of Digital Ash after it had come out, and it was a great show, but out of all Bright Eyes records, it’s my least favorite (even though it’s still really good). This time, however, he was accompanied by two drummers, a harp, a trumpet, a clarinet, a bassist, a lap pedal guitar, and a keyboardist. They played songs off of every album, and it was a great mix. The literal show stopper, though, was the encore: he came back out and sang a few songs, and then for the last, last song, the whole band played “Let’s Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and To Be Loved).” It gave me chills. The song is a big epic of a song with about 50,000 words, but it was amazing, high energy, and I WAS FLIPPING OUT!!!111111111
Anyway, this show was easily in the top three shows I’ve ever seen, if not #1. Wowie!