Saturday October 4
Conor Oberst brought his country rock to the Enmore as part of his eponymous album tour, backed by the Mystic Valley Band. Jonathan Borger reports on Oberst's Sydney show.
Oberst moved away from his previous recording moniker, Bright Eyes, to record his first solo album since 1996 (as a sixteen year old) this year. He achieved perhaps his highest level of fame as Bright Eyes, and it was in their last few albums that he began to experiment more and more with the alt-country sound of his latest record. Despite the deliberate move away from Bright Eyes, this reviewer would be lying if he said he didn’t hope/expect to hear some of Oberst’s older work. He didn’t play any, and although it was slightly disappointing, it was nonetheless understandable and failed to take away from the quality of the performance.
Recording and performing since the age of thirteen, Conor Oberst appears comfortable on stage, yet almost deliberately unaware of the audience. Dressed in a crumpled suit, with long hair he invokes images of Pete Doherty – poetic troubadour, romantically clutching his acoustic guitar, his one and only prop and security blanket. With the extremely tight Mystic Valley Band (two guitars, bass, keys, drums) behind him, Oberst needs nothing more. Except of his course, his unmistakable voice. Low, strained, and at the same time fragile and intense, (with perhaps less wailing and shrieking than on Bright Eyes tracks, yet still subject to the odd outburst) much more can be said for the atmosphere his vocals create live as compared with the record.
Accompanied by the strong vocals of the band members, songs like single, ‘Cape Canaveral’, ‘Get-Well-Cards’, ‘Souled Out!!!’ and ‘Moab’ really soared around the theatre. The latter’s lyrics (“there’s nothing that the road cannot heal…”) when accompanied by Oberst’s almost tormented vocals, created a strong and believable recount of fleeing one’s troubles.
Despite the fact that the show was obviously not a sell-out, the crowd was appreciative, responsive and more than happy to sing along with the star. The band played an extended version of the thumping, chanting track ‘NYC-Gone, Gone’ which excited the audience and got them moving as a great interlude to an otherwise relaxed set.
The show’s most powerful and memorable moments came when Oberst was left onstage with just his guitar and a solitary band member (accompanying bass or keys) for the album’s acoustic songs. ‘Lenders in the Temple’, played as the last set song was for me the highlight and showcased his voice and talented guitar work, which for a lot of the set became hidden behind the strong band. Similarly, ‘Milk Thistle’ closed the encore (as it does the album) and left the audience feeling greatly appreciative for having witnessed this poet fill the theatre with his voice and presence during his performance for them.
by Jonathan Borger
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