Events

[INDIE] At first hailed as maybe the new Bob Dylan, singer/songwriter Conor Oberst has always felt more to me like some kind of successor to Elliott Smith, in that, at least for me personally, Oberst’s music has always had a supremely cathartic effect. Bright Eyes was Oberst’s first major music project and through that outlet he released nine emotionally heavy, at times narcissistic albums, most notably Fevers and Mirrors, Lifted, and I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning. Unlike Dylan or Smith, however, Oberst more often allowed his emotions overwhelm him—as he grows more and more pissed off, his voice and tone reveal it as much as his lyrics, especially on his most pissed-off albums like Lifted. As he’s grown older, he’s grown a little less overtly anguished on his solo material, though his lyrics still often focus on heartbreak, insecurity and loneliness, especially on his 2016 album Ruminations. Though he’s never officially put Bright Eyes to bed, the band has been inactive since 2011. Word on the street, though, is on his current tour his set is split pretty evenly between Bright Eyes material and solo stuff, including cuts from his latest album, this year’s Salutations. Conor Oberst comes to Babeville’s Asbury Hall on Thursday, September 14 with support from Phoebe Bridgers.