Bright Eyes brought all its favorite songs to The Depot last Tuesday (9/2/2025).
And for everyone who gathered to see Conor Oberst and his band of 30 years share both old and new favorites, it felt so much more like catharsis than it ever did wistful nostalgia. The band is a collective of motion and progression. Oberst will always feel like one of the hardest working musicians still giving everything he does an average of 150%. After all, he’s been doing this song-and-dance long enough to perfect his craft and all stripes gained along the way have been earned. Devotion feels like a natural cause of events at this point.
While the band didn’t disappoint in giving us what we’ll largely claim as the band’s tried-and-true hits by singing proudly along (“We Are Nowhere and It’s Now,” “First Day of My Life,” “At The Bottom of Everything,” “Land Locked Blues”), we still got songs like “1st World Blues” that felt like a happy nod to The Clash. A new classic. One we can already sing along to. And because Oberst is never shy about sharing his political leanings, having the words UNMASK ICE across the front of his acoustic guitar felt, if not expected, entirely appropriate.
At the band’s most energetic, the 21-song performance felt like an explosion of happy energy, a defiance that comes with a lot of joy. It meant a combination of blasted horns and Oberst happily spinning himself around dizzy over and over again. It meant unhidden smiles and finding a lot of familiar friends in the audience, people who still understand what a good band feels like. And when you know what Bright Eyes can do (and most always does), you clear schedules immediately. You respond by showing up.
Photo gallery by Nate Christianson. Instagram @npcplus
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