“The plane ride fucking sucks. Every time I do it, I say we’re never coming back again, but then we have such a good time,” Oberst says as he pushes his hair underneath his wide-brimmed hat. Australia is a long, long way from Omaha after all, which would explain why he hasn’t been back since 2011. But the one good part about only coming back every four years is that when he finally decides to give in to that unenviable plane ride, he doesn’t fuck around.
Before he hit the stage, his self-proclaimed (“and you can quote me on that”) favourite band, The Felice Brothers opened with their raucous bayou subway stomp. Playing songs from their new album, Favorite Waitress, and older cuts like Hey Hey Revolver, their rousing Americana had no problem capturing the growing crowd. It wasn’t all we would see of The Felice Brothers on the night, though, with the five-piece acting as Oberst’s backing band.
Opening up with rarity Napoleon’s Hat,off of the Saddle Creek Lagniappe compilation for Hurricane Katrina, the track set the tone for the rest of the evening. Oberst wasn’t going to give us the hits, he was going to give us the deep cuts, and he did. Making his way through tracks across his releases as Bright Eyes, solo, and with the Mystic Valley Band, his two-hour set traversed his entire songwriting spectrum.
He only played three tracks from his latest album, Upside Down Mountain, which were received with enthusiasm, but unsurprisingly, it was his songs with Bright Eyes that shone the brightest. His imitable voice warbled on the quieter acoustic moments like Poison Oak, and oozed cheekiness on more upbeat songs like Well Whiskey. Of course, Four Winds and Another Travelin’ Song were crowd-pleasers, as was closer A Song To Pass The Time.
As for Oberst’s stage presence, he was talkative and eager to engage with the sold-out crowd. At 33 years old, he’s stepped into the role of the charismatic frontman, sprinkling in banter that added a touch of lightheartedness to an otherwise heavy performance. Here are some of his best of brightest quotes on the night:
Referring to Ten Women: “This is a numbers song. I was asked to play it on Sesame Street but it was inappropriate so I said no.”
“This is a long show so if anyone wants to split, I won’t take offense. Our other shows are at The Zoo and we can’t play long since the hippopotamuses have to sleep.”
“If I was a kindergarten teacher I’d give you all gold stars.”
“We’re still feeling psychedelic because of the jet lag but usually we’re upstanding citizens. Me and Christmas [Felice] work the nine to five at HSBC.”
After making his way through a 19-song regular set, he emerged again with The Felice Brothers for a huge performance of Tom Petty’s Walls, with a guest verse by The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle. The last time I saw them jam out on that together was back in 2004, when I was just 14, so it was quite a treat to hear them pull it out over in Melbourne. It might be another four years until Oberst travels over here again, but Thursday’s performance was just enough to hold us over in the meantime…until Golden Plains.
BY LAUREN GILL
Loved: Banter.
Hated: The girl who kept yelling out for him to play At The Bottom of Everything.
Drank: Drinks? That would entail losing my hard-earned spot.
