Bright Eyes

Was pretty awesome, no lie, no depressed Conor Oberst, either, he was happy and energetic, which made for an exciting performance through and through. My favorite moments were undoubtedly "The Calendar Hung Itself" and "Road to Joy". As for "The Calendar Hung Itself", I honestly didn't expect it to be played. Though it's my favorite Bright Eyes song, it's not by any means one of his most popular, in fact it's #66 on Last.fm in terms of plays for Bright Eyes songs in the past 6 months. That said, I was very excited to hear the opening guitar strums, and Conor's animated expressions for the whole song made it amazing, that song alone made the show worth while. Then during "Road to Joy", Kurt Vile and the Violators also came on stage and there were about 10-12 people on stage playing instruments, and Conor drew the song out for a long time, of course all to build up to the climactic, "Let's fuck it up boys, make some noise!", which was fantastic live. He also individually introduced/thanked his whole band, a kind and personable gesture I don't see many artists do. Also I love the Paramount as a venue, the sound was good, the interior is gorgeous, and the staff was friendly. All in all one of my favorite shows in Seattle.