By Nicole Sacks and Bryson Seabold
We have all fallen victim to dressing in uniform for a concert. Usually walking the streets of any city day of, you can spot a fan in a heartbeat. At the Mill & Mine on March 9, 2025, this uniform was not existent. The crowd at Bright Eyes was filled with children with their parents lifting them up to see the stage to the sweet elderly woman sitting next to me who had seen Bright Eyes five times.
As soon as opener Hurray For The Riff Raff took the stage and Alynda Segarra’s voice soared through the mic, the crowd was captivated. Segarra’s multiple registers showed off her range from the beginning to the end of the set.
Segarra and her immensely talented band did not put on a performance with their movements or a production, they let their music carry them, and you better believe it did.
Hurray For The Riff Raff transitioned flawlessly from folksy smooth sounds to energetic rock throughout the entire set. Each audience member doubtlessly felt the energy and emotion shift through each instrument and in Segarra’s tone.
In the blink of an eye, the crowd swelled, inched closer to the stage, and the inside went dark. An intro in Español began an extremely theatrical intro-turned-thunderstorm-turned-movie-voice-tracks as the band joined in. Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nate Walcott brought every ounce of energy as they went through the many vibe changes of the show.
Together throughout the show, the entire band would display their fascinating musicianship with nearly every band member playing multiple instruments and singing. From what I can count nearly 15 instruments were played and even 16 if you count Miwi La Lupa’s stint strumming his unicorn-shaped hobby horse. From horn sections, electric guitar, and mandolin, to synths, practically anything you could imagine was played by the six members on stage.
With a concert of many ups and downs it’s hard to pinpoint that absolute high of the show, but with the song “Shell Games,” there was that feeling of a climax. Right at the halfway point of the set, just after the slower ballad of “Spring Cleaning,” we hear the keys start alongside Conor Oberst’s vocals, and as Oberst’s vocals start to pick up, so do the keys. The drums join in after some time continuing to build the sound until just as it feels like all together they are going to burst, the keys turn into a driving synth sound that forces everyone from the crowd to move. Everyone in the crowd is swaying, jumping, and singing along with the earworm chorus that after just one listen desires to be sung. Just before the last chorus we hear in the song, “Everyone on the count of three” repeated as Oberst and those in the crowd all emphatically threw up three fingers into the smokey air.
Before those in the audience even have the chance to come down from the high of “Shell Games,” Oberst introduces Segarra back onto the stage and they go into a song that features Segarra in the studio version as well called “Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed).” Immediately as the song kicks off once again we are thrown into a fast-paced rock song with a chest-thumping horn section that even turns reggae by the end leading perfectly into the next slower song that the two sing before Segarra’s departure from stage. Oberst cracks a joke referencing the Bob Dylan biopic as Oberst quipped “I got the Chalamet thing on” alongside Segarra as they sang the beautiful ballad of “Lua” together.
When “Happy Accident” started it was clearly a crowd favorite as they danced right along with everyone on stage. The crowd felt free and encouraged to dance as they pleased, and that they did. Looking around you couldn’t help but smile watching everyone let loose like no one was watching.
With this lyric, he physically reaches out to the audience attempting to physically come close. Come the second chorus Oberst physically breaks that barrier between the audience and the artist
For the encore, Bright Eyes would finish the concert with three songs: “Poison Oak,” “The Calendar Hung Itself,” and the finale “One for You, and One for Me.” Just before the final song, Oberst gives a speech about protecting one another and spreading love to everyone. He then leads into “One for You, and One for Me,” a song that addresses as many different types of people as possible and questions, “How did we get so far away.” With this lyric, he physically reaches out to the audience attempting to physically come close. Come the second chorus Oberst physically breaks that barrier between the audience and the artist by leaning on the railing, reaching out, and touching the audience.
As the lights came on and the crowd roared, each person in the building was grinning with that love that was not only proclaimed by Oberst but also displayed both by his emotional and physical connection with his fans. Walking out of the building many people came together shortly after the show embracing one another with wide grins surrounded by the banter and laughter of the fans leaving the concert. For their next five shows, Bright Eyes will continue their U.S. tour through late April and for anyone interested, I would highly recommend making the trip out to see this wonderful band.