Bright Eyes - Chicago Theatre, 19/10/2007

The Chicago Theatre is a beautful, ornate building with traditional theatre-style steep multi-level seating and French-style decor throughout. All seated, we were up at the very top of the theatre, right in the middle, with a perfect view of the whole stage (albeit anyone on that stage was barely distinguishable).

The opening act was Andrew Bird. I'd heard one or two songs before and went so far as adding his albums to my Amazon Wishlist, but with so many bands to listen to, I hadn't gotten to him yet. More fool me.

Unaccompanied, he managed to build beautiful, rich arrangements using two sampling pedals (which, gear nerds, I am reliably informed are Line 6 DL4 Delay Modelers). He plucked or played gorgeous violin parts into his sampler, layering them up, before playing guitar, singing, whistling (I'm not a fan of whistling, but his was pitch-perfect with a natural vibrato) and playing glockenspiel over the top.

The acoustics in the theatre were perfect for his music, I was pretty much entranced for his entire set. A couple of songs, taken from his most recent albums - Armchair Apocrypha and The Mysterious Production Of Eggs.

By comparison, Bright Eyes - while fantastic - didn't quite keep my attention. While Bird's sound spread out and filled the theatre, Bright Eyes' was muddied by the acoustics. Frontman Conor even alluded to weird acoustics when, halfway through a song on which he played piano, he cut off and had keyboardist Nate come take a look.

When not wrestling with sound, the band put on a brilliant set. I admit to a couple of vodka and Red Bulls, so my memory is hazy on the set list, but I definitely recall...

From Cassadaga...

'Four Winds'
'If The Brakeman Turns My Way'*

* (the song on which the piano malfunctioned)

From Digital Ash In A Digital Urn...

'Arc Of Time'
'Hit The Switch'

From Fevers & Mirrors...

'An Attempt To Tip The Scales'

From I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning...

'Old Soul Song (For The New World Order)'
'Another Travelin' Song'
'Poison Oak'

From Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground...

'You Will, You Will, You Will'

There was also a Tom Petty cover in there (I wasn't paying attention as we decided to duck out early to beat the crowds, Jess says it was 'Walls' or something) and another song Conor played on piano - apparently it was a cover of a song he wrote for another band, but I could barely hear him over the screaming fourteen year old girls.

The absolute highlight of the night, amidst all the great music, was when Conor recounted a story about his former tour manager.

"This is a selfish song. Our old tour manager had a joke:

'How does Bright Eyes warm up for a show? ME ME ME ME ME!'

I fired him!"

On record, they might sound like absolute Debbie Downers, but they certainly have a sense of humour about themselves.