Virtually Home

Conservatism says everything is fine the way it is. It says nothing we can dream could possibly be better than this. It says I cannot empathize with those less fortunate than me. I cannot contemplate the future. I have no interest in the good of the commons. I am reactionary. My imagination was stillborn. Conservatism says we only look backward. We only wish things were how they used to be. Well, how things are can always be better. And how things were is almost never as awesome as you think you remember. Conservatism is cowardice, and I have no patience for it.

Dawes' opening set, with Nate Walcott on their last song. I like to see artists perform where they live. Catching Conor Oberst in Omaha is always special, largely because some combination of his friends, ex-bandmates, and Saddle Creek colleagues will show up to add something unique to the show. But Oberst has a second home and another record label (Team Love) in NYC these days, so when I heard he was performing two days before a professional conference I was attending, I snagged a ticket. Conor, early in the set. Because my flight was delayed, I showed up pretty late to the show – at least by my own standards. I arrived as the doors were opening, so there were approximately a bajillion people in line in front of me. I made the best of it and still ended up on the third row of the GA crowd. Dawes opened, like they have on the rest of the tour. The setlist was what I remembered from their recent two-night stand in Minneapolis. They performed well, but nothing stood...