Drinking the ink from my pen

[carnivalnights]

(cross-posted at blog)

The Bright Eyes concert was amazing. I loved them before I went to the concert, of course, but after hearing a lot off of their new albums, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and Digital Ash In a Digital Urn, I was even more impressed. If I had to create a list of the Top 5 Best Songwriters of All Time, Conor Oberst would no doubt be included in that list. Even if you do not like the music of Bright Eyes, you will at least appreciate Conor's lyrics because they are always poetic and always personal. Not only that, but many Bright Eyes songs are very political and have a lot to say about the environment, humanity, and the general state of this world and what we can do to fix it. Sean has been to three Bright Eyes concerts and told me Conor has had a different anti-Bush song for each one. The one he did last night was called something like "When the Pesident Talks to God." It was amazing.

The only major downside to the concert was the crowd. The Phoenix is a very small venue here in Toronto and there were hundreds of people packed in there. They sold far more tickets than they should have. I was literally breathing on the girl's neck in front of me the entire time. Obviously, this type of crowd is not good for someone with social anxiety disorder, but I tried the best I could not to have a panic attack. When I first walked in I thought I might but luckily, I sucked it up and I was alright. On top of that, it was an all-ages show and the amount of Conor look-alikes made me sick. A Bright Eyes concert is the epitome of "emo," and all the boys had longish hair parted on the side, wearing black-rim glasses and white dress shirts. Ugh. It was lame. I just ignored that as much as I could. Actually, there was another downside: they are very strict with security at The Phoenix and the security guard checking people was a complete asshole. I had two bottled waters in my bag and he just took them out and threw them into the trash. What about people who do not want to pay $7 for something they can just get for free at home? That is a disgusting capitalist practice. I was really angry but there was nothing I could do.

There are actually a lot of Bright Eyes songs I dislike, so I had planned on going to this concert liking a few and not the rest. Well, it was the complete opposite. I disliked three of the songs they played but that was all. And the only reason I disliked the songs was because they got a little too folk-country for me. You know, with the banjo and slide guitar. The rest were beautiful. They played the most gorgeous song I have ever heard that will probably become my new favourite Bright Eyes. It was called One Food In Front of the Other. Sadly, it is an unreleased song so I cannot for the life of me find the download anywhere. The only album it is on is a Saddle Creek compilation album that I will purchasing later this month, mostly for that single song. "We made love on the living room floor/With the noise in the background/From televised war/And a defeaning pleasure/I thought I heard someone say/"If we walk away, they'll walk away." [edit: This song is called "Landlocked Blues" on I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning.]

All in all, it was just a great night. It was exactly what I needed after weeks of being angry and depressed. After the show Sean and I weaved through the crowd for what seemed like hours (there was a huge lineup just to get out of the stage area and huge lineups for the coat-checks), but finally we got outside and caught a cab back to his place. I told him to put on Lifted or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ears to the Ground, my favourite Bright Eyes album, and we listened to that and talked until 1a.m. when I had to catch the last subway home. I actually slept well last night too. That is definitely a rare event.

Comments

[wingsunfurl.livejournal.com]

Urg, the Phoenix is tiny. ;o; I no like.

[carnivalnights.livejournal.com]

Ditto. And they have all those bloody tables in the way so when it's crowded, you can barely get passed them. And of course, people are rude so I was getting pushed all over the place. Bah. It would have been fine if they sold less tickets. Very intimate, etc. which I prefer for a concert.

[wingsunfurl.livejournal.com]

[wingsunfurl.livejournal.com]

& i'm glad you hadfun. ♥

[carnivalnights.livejournal.com]

Me toooo. It's so neat looking. And intimate.

[blueskiesfail.livejournal.com]

Shows/concerts and SAD are a horrible mix. Anyway, I'm glad you were able to suck it up and enjoy it. That takes a lot of strength, I know. I'm really interested in hearing the new Bright Eyes stuff now that I read this.

[carnivalnights.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Concerts are hell for me. I went to see Placebo a while back at a different venue but it wasn't too bad because it wasn't packed. But yeah, when you're cheek to cheek-- bleh. *shudder*

They have a few songs in the Downloads section at the Saddle Creek site:
http://www.saddle-creek.com/bands/brighteyes/
:)

[littlemisstexas.livejournal.com]

I'm very glad to hear that you had a great night and enjoyed the concert, you really deserved it. <3

[carnivalnights.livejournal.com]

Thank you, hun. <33

[arseclown.livejournal.com]

Aw. I was going to see Bright Eyes this year, but the gig is over 18s.

Bah!

I have an mp3 of "One Food In Front of the Other" & it's been my favourite Bright Eyes song since the first time I heard it.

My aim is The Perfect Meat if you want it.
:]

I despise 'Emo'.
I didn't realize they were supposed to be an 'emo' band until about a month ago. Heh.

[carnivalnights.livejournal.com]

I was reading this interview with Conor where he was disputing the fact that some of their gigs are 18+. He says he doesn't like it (he obviously doesn't make the decisions about that) because he knows they have fans under the age of 18. *pets him*

I don't even know why Bright Eyes got pushed into that category. I mean, I just use the term loosely, jokingly. (ie. "Conor wears tights shirts and sings about love. He's so emo, dude.") But there are some people who consider it an actual genre. It's dumb.

Thank you so much for your MP3 offer. Someone from teh_music sent it to be about ten minutes after this post though. (That community rocks. Seriously.) But thank you! <3

[journeys--end.livejournal.com]

I am so glad you had a good night. You deserve it. I think I'd like to see Bright Eyes live, even though, like you had thought, I don't care for quite a few of their songs.<33

[carnivalnights.livejournal.com]

I didn't except them so be so great live, to be honest. I'm not sure why... I did have a reason but it escapes me now. Heh. But yes, they were great. A Conor sounded amazing. I now have a much stronger love for them. :D

<3

[thepheonix.livejournal.com]

My friend Ashley (_stereochild__) went to that last night and she had lots of fun too. AND she's going to Cleveland with my best friend and I tomorrow for the Something Corporate show on Tuesday. Lucky bitch, she is. Heh.

Anyway, sounds like fun. I've only recently started listening to Bright Eyes but I really like the songs so I hope I can go to a concert in the future.

P.S. I hate it when concerts are crowded like that. When you have to stand on your tippy toes to breathe because it's so hot and you know there's some fresh air just above the crowd. Well, I do anyway. I'm only 5'6". Heh. I'm seeing Tegan and Sara at the Phoenix in February so I hope it's not as crowded.

[carnivalnights.livejournal.com]

Cool! I kept looking for people I knew but pretty much knew I wouldn't see anyone... seeing as 3/4 of the people I do know are like, "Who's Bright Eyes?" Ugh.

They were really great in concert. I didn't think Conor would sound as good. :-x But he did.

YES. I hate it. I HATE being short too. God. I get to be the one suffocating, not being able to see, getting smashed around. *shakes fist* And I'm even shorter than you are.

I hope the concert isn't as crowded for you. <3

[zahrimsthoughts.livejournal.com]

Sad to say Ive never heard of them but will be looking them up on the music sites, ohyes.

x

[carnivalnights.livejournal.com]

http://saddle-creek.com/bands/brighteyes :D

[zahrimsthoughts.livejournal.com]

*grin* Thank you x

[offermeescape.livejournal.com]

*takes note that when you talk about me in your blog, there are always less comments than usual*

That night was simply amazing. I was looking at you when he said those words (you know what they are) and I wanted you to look at me so badly. :( *sigh* I'd do it all over again. <3

[carnivalnights.livejournal.com]

The reason people reply less is not because of anyone I mention. People reply less when entries are personal/focused. No one could relate to this entry and so not many people have anything to say about it. That is why I keep my entries focused but not focused on events and daily happenings in my life. No one wants to read that. It's the same reason I keep my love life out of my journal/blog.

It's not the end of the world. We later found out we were thinking the exact same thing at the exact same time, and that for us alone is more than a look could ever say.