Bright Eyes, Dark Night.
When a previous band were dressed in all black and delivered a rock n roll spectacle, the sight of a band appearing in all white, the mind starts to wonder if there is a ying and yang thing going on. Bright Eyes has that many styles at his disposal that the opposite of rock n roll is within his grasp but with a crowd fired up after two guitar-blasting sets, the thought of what show lay in store was intriguing.
Accompanied by a mini orchestra, the first song centred on Obersts vocals but very quickly built in size and stature. With two drummers in the band, this track grew into an anthemic stompalong and the flow of the night was safeguarded. Introducing a song by saying its about hallucinogenic drugs is always going to be well received at a festival and the resulting cheers proved that the frontman knows how to give the crowd what it wants.
For the first half of the show, the instrumental moments were livelier and came across better. When Oberst sung it was great but his voice can overshadow everything and slow the tempo down.
The recent UK single went down well, it was a country-type number, enlivened with a string fiddle section. This was swiftly followed by 'First Day of My Life' which was brightened up from its recorded state. It did sound a little bit like Dire Straits 'Walk of Life' but that aside, was quite sprightly.
With live art appearing on the backdrop throughout the show, there appeared a party atmosphere on stage and this was confirmed when the singer announced it was the bands last show on the tour and they were due to be heading home.
A climactic final song brought it all to a close in a manner befitting of the occasion, the show and the tour.