|
Conor Oberst with special guest Dawes
Conor Oberst Setlist Dawes Setlist
Tour Dates
06/05/14 Columbia, MO The Blue Note
Read More
06/06/14 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium 06/07/14 Lexington, KY Buster's 07/02/14 Kansas City, MO The Crossroads 07/03/14 Lawrence, KS The Bottleneck 07/04/14 80/35 Festival 07/27/14 Newport Folk Festival 07/29/14 Central Park Summerstage 07/31/14 Grand Rapids, MI Frederik Meijer Gardens 08/01/14 Cooperstown, NY Brewery Ommegang 09/14/14 Salt Lake City, UT Red Butte Garden 09/16/14 Boulder, CO Boulder Theater 09/18/14 Tulsa, OK Cain's Ballroom 09/19/14 Houston, TX House Of Blues 09/20/14 Austin, TX Stubb's Bar-B-Q 09/21/14 Dallas, TX Strauss Square 09/23/14 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theatre 09/24/14 Aspen, CO Belly Up Aspen 09/25/14 Bellvue, CO Mishawaka Amphitheatre 09/27/14 Boise, ID Knitting Factory Concert House 09/28/14 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory 09/30/14 Seattle, WA The Showbox 10/01/14 Portland, OR McMenamins Crystal 10/05/14 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre
|
If they were officially a supergroup, you might call them “NebraskaFornia”…
… which at least sounds better than “Conor Dawes” or “Dawes Oberst”. Either way, the formidable combination of Omaha’s Conor Oberst and California’s Dawes, proved incendiary on their second night of a two-night stand in front of a capacity crowd at First Avenue in Minneapolis.
You can probably praise (or blame) singer-songwriter Jonathan Wilson for the combination; he, the architect of the modern Laurel Canyon sound that Dawes is known for (re: their most recent album, Stories Don’t End [Red/Hub Records]), is also the co-producer of Oberst’s latest solo effort, Upside Down Mountain (Nonesuch Records).
Dawes continued to prove itself as a supreme backing band (having previously worked as such with Jackson Browne, Robbie Robertson and John Fogerty) as well as a great Americana four-piece in their own right, and Oberst aptly showed a confident maturity in playing songs, both old and new.
The three-hour evening was opened by Los Angeles-based Dawes, who considers Minneapolis one of their strongest markets, in a solid hour-long set of their own. The band opened with a string of new classics, ‘Most People', ‘Time Spent in Los Angeles’ and ‘If I Wanted Someone’, in front of a raving receptive crowd, that connected with singer Taylor Goldsmith’s storytelling lyrics. The band humbly downplays the love given by Minneapolis, though could likely sell out anywhere locally, if they decided to ever do an extended residency.
‘Fire Away’, from previous effort, Nothing is Wrong, was stretched to showcase the chops of Goldsmith on guitar, his younger brother, Griffin, keeping time (while making the best “rock faces”) on drums, Wylie Gelber’s steady bass, and the versatile keyboards of Tay Strathairn. “We’re gonna play a brand new song for you”, the elder Goldsmith remarked, before ‘To Be Completely Honest’, a mid-tempo’d revelatory number that fits nicely within the band’s song canon.
He would then strap on a custom Stratocaster, given to him earlier that day by someone in the crowd, for ‘When My Time Comes’ which had all 1500 people singing the chorus back to the band. “You’re sort of stuck with us the rest of the night”, Goldsmith mentioned to all those unaware, before a heartfelt 'A Little Bit of Everything', which still affects with its emotive lyrical painting of people in various situations. The band then concluded with an upbeat ‘From a Right Angle’, mentioning they’d return soon, with Oberst in tow.
Conor Oberst along with Dawes, then took the stage for his two-hour set, which varied from Night One, but also opened with the first two songs which start his new album, ‘Time Forgot’ and ‘Zigzagging Toward the Light’ before he reached back into his Bright Eyes catalogue for ‘We Are Nowhere and It’s Now’ (“this one’s about purgatory”, Oberst would say). Dawes had already rehearsed 45-50 songs of the Oberst oeuvre, so was ready for any setlist changes or called audible.
Songs from Oberst’s new album were sung from an obvious personal edge, while older cuts from his earlier Bright Eyes and Mystic Valley Band incarnations, showed a tempered anger to the brashness of some of the youthfully written songs and the dexterity to change from a whispering acoustic ballad, to an all-out rock tour-de-force.
Mystic Valley Band’s ‘Sausalito’ got toes tapping, and the new ‘Enola Gay’ was given a slightly heavier treatment, via Dawes’ expansive instrumentation. The Bright Eyes cut ‘Old Soul Song (For The New World Order)’ started gently, but quickly morphed into a seething, heavy sonic assault with end chorus line, “Yeah, they went wild”. The “sort-of title track” to the new album, ‘Lonely at the Top’, slowed things and let the audience catch its collective breath, before Oberst dug backward again into Bright Eyes’ ‘Method Acting’.
Dawes took a break midway through for an acoustic mini-set by Oberst, including the delicate, ‘You Are Your Mother’s Child’, as heard in last year’s film, Stuck in Love. ‘Get Well Cards’ had Oberst cheekily explaining mail carriers to younger audience members, and he smilingly apologized before ‘Poison Oak’ for “playing a lot of sad music” and “not having a lot of party jams”. ‘I Got a Reason #2’ echo’d with its Bob Dylan/Woody Guthrie-style lyrics and Bright Eyes’ 2005 song, ‘Lua’ brought the main set to a close with its heartfelt narrative.
The equally gentle ‘First Day of My Life’ (also from 2005) started the encore softly before Bright Eyes’ honkytonking ‘Another Travelin’ Song’ ramped things up with Dawes proving their music worth, highlighted by a great Goldsmith guitar solo. ‘Roosevelt Room’, a Mystic Valley Band song, closed the night with aplomb, a high-energy fitting end to a spirited three-hour evening from both acts.
Here’s hoping we haven’t seen the last of this very complimentary and satisfying musical coupling.
… which at least sounds better than “Conor Dawes” or “Dawes Oberst”. Either way, the formidable combination of Omaha’s Conor Oberst and California’s Dawes, proved incendiary on their second night of a two-night stand in front of a capacity crowd at First Avenue in Minneapolis.
You can probably praise (or blame) singer-songwriter Jonathan Wilson for the combination; he, the architect of the modern Laurel Canyon sound that Dawes is known for (re: their most recent album, Stories Don’t End [Red/Hub Records]), is also the co-producer of Oberst’s latest solo effort, Upside Down Mountain (Nonesuch Records).
Dawes continued to prove itself as a supreme backing band (having previously worked as such with Jackson Browne, Robbie Robertson and John Fogerty) as well as a great Americana four-piece in their own right, and Oberst aptly showed a confident maturity in playing songs, both old and new.
|
Dawes
|
‘Fire Away’, from previous effort, Nothing is Wrong, was stretched to showcase the chops of Goldsmith on guitar, his younger brother, Griffin, keeping time (while making the best “rock faces”) on drums, Wylie Gelber’s steady bass, and the versatile keyboards of Tay Strathairn. “We’re gonna play a brand new song for you”, the elder Goldsmith remarked, before ‘To Be Completely Honest’, a mid-tempo’d revelatory number that fits nicely within the band’s song canon.
He would then strap on a custom Stratocaster, given to him earlier that day by someone in the crowd, for ‘When My Time Comes’ which had all 1500 people singing the chorus back to the band. “You’re sort of stuck with us the rest of the night”, Goldsmith mentioned to all those unaware, before a heartfelt 'A Little Bit of Everything', which still affects with its emotive lyrical painting of people in various situations. The band then concluded with an upbeat ‘From a Right Angle’, mentioning they’d return soon, with Oberst in tow.
|
Conor/Dawes
|
Songs from Oberst’s new album were sung from an obvious personal edge, while older cuts from his earlier Bright Eyes and Mystic Valley Band incarnations, showed a tempered anger to the brashness of some of the youthfully written songs and the dexterity to change from a whispering acoustic ballad, to an all-out rock tour-de-force.
Mystic Valley Band’s ‘Sausalito’ got toes tapping, and the new ‘Enola Gay’ was given a slightly heavier treatment, via Dawes’ expansive instrumentation. The Bright Eyes cut ‘Old Soul Song (For The New World Order)’ started gently, but quickly morphed into a seething, heavy sonic assault with end chorus line, “Yeah, they went wild”. The “sort-of title track” to the new album, ‘Lonely at the Top’, slowed things and let the audience catch its collective breath, before Oberst dug backward again into Bright Eyes’ ‘Method Acting’.
Dawes took a break midway through for an acoustic mini-set by Oberst, including the delicate, ‘You Are Your Mother’s Child’, as heard in last year’s film, Stuck in Love. ‘Get Well Cards’ had Oberst cheekily explaining mail carriers to younger audience members, and he smilingly apologized before ‘Poison Oak’ for “playing a lot of sad music” and “not having a lot of party jams”. ‘I Got a Reason #2’ echo’d with its Bob Dylan/Woody Guthrie-style lyrics and Bright Eyes’ 2005 song, ‘Lua’ brought the main set to a close with its heartfelt narrative.
The equally gentle ‘First Day of My Life’ (also from 2005) started the encore softly before Bright Eyes’ honkytonking ‘Another Travelin’ Song’ ramped things up with Dawes proving their music worth, highlighted by a great Goldsmith guitar solo. ‘Roosevelt Room’, a Mystic Valley Band song, closed the night with aplomb, a high-energy fitting end to a spirited three-hour evening from both acts.
Here’s hoping we haven’t seen the last of this very complimentary and satisfying musical coupling.
|
Conor Oberst and Dawes at First Avenue, Minneapolis (02 June 2014) |
Comments