Conor Oberst (with the Felice Brothers) at Rock the Garden, Walker Art Center, Mpls, 6/20/15

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When Conor Oberst goes on tour during the frog season, I suffer major internal conflicts about what to do. On the one hand, I should be doing science. But on the other hand, I'm pathologically incapable of passing up Conor in concert. And by "passing up" I actually mean "not driving hundreds of miles in order to see".

So when, for the second year running, Conor announced a Minneapolis show in June...I felt really guilty, but I bought a ticket to see him.

Conor played the first day of the two-day event Rock the Garden, in which the Walker Art Center's sculpture garden is turned into a one-stage music festival and all the Minnesotans complain that it's too hot at 82F. It's tradition. I would have liked to go to both days, but the frogs had other ideas.

I worked until 5 and then high-tailed it to the show. I caught most of Courtney Barnett's set. She's a
pretty badass Aussie guitarist, and was backed by a bassist and a drummer. I'm planning to buy some of her music after watching her set.

Conor went on at 7:15. I met up with some other devotees (fans from previous Conor shows) and got up to the rail to watch. Denver Dally was backstage with him (visible from the pit) and he's grown out his hair, so signs of the impending Desaparecidos tour were everywhere. I can't wait for that.

Since it was a festival, it was a short set, but it was one of the best I've seen in terms of composition. There was plenty of Bright Eyes, but with a focus on Upside Down Mountain, naturally. There was a highlight from virtually every record since Lifted (nothing from The People's Key, conspicuously). 


There were two songs I'd never heard live, including "Southern State", which has been one of my favorites for a long time. It's a cut off of a collaboration between Bright Eyes and Spoon (Home, vol. 5), and it's beautiful in a brutal kind of way. The other was "Easy/Lucky/Free". Songs from Digital Ash in a Digital Urn don't make live setlists as much as I would like, so I was psyched to hear it. As you can see from the photograph of the stage copy of the setlist, we almost heard "Ten Women" and "Well Whisky", both of which I also like. Next time, maybe.

Conor was backed by the Felice Brothers on fiddle, keys, drums, bass, and guitar. They made a fantastic supporting band, better than Dawes by far. They also played a Felice Brothers song, which was really cool. I only own one of their records, but I think I should check the rest out.

Setlist:

Time Forgot
Hundreds of Ways
Four Winds
Southern State
Artifact #1
Cape Canaveral
Soul Singer in a Session Band
Meadow of a Dream (Felice Brothers)
Method Acting
Poison Oak
Easy/Lucky/Free
Milk Thistle

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