RECAP: Bright Eyes’ stunning performance at the ACL Live Moody Theater
Photo Credit: Bright Eyes
AUSTIN, TX | MOODY THEATER | FEBRUARY 27, 2025 | BY RACHEL JOY THOMAS
Bright Eyes, one of the most well-known indie acts of the early 2000s, has consistently pioneered heartfelt odes and indie-rock nostalgia. The group, with frontman Conor Oberst, guitarist Mike Mogis, and pianist Nate Walcott, alongside touring musicians like MiWi La Lupa and Alex Levine, went on an extended hiatus in 2016 that saw the near end of its run. Returning in 2020 with its first new song in nine years, Bright Eyes created a wave of well-produced singles equal to or often greater than previous work. The band came in at full force as they rolled ahead for nearly two years.
Currently, Bright Eyes is in its betting era, having recently released its eleventh studio album, Five Dice, All Threes. Despite setbacks like the 2024 cancellation of its record release tour, they’ve come back to packed venues in 2025.
Hurray for the Riff Raff opened for the band, performing a country, lackadaisical set of queer tracks from their record, The Past Is Still Alive. Starting at exactly 7:30 p.m., Alynda Segarra, the mastermind Americana artist, sang “Alibi” to open the show. Twanging guitar notes and easy strumming took hold of the venue. Segarra crooned, “Maybe I got something left in this heart of mine,” as they cruised through the track.
The crowd gathered en masse for their performance, comfortably standing or sitting in the amphitheater, either house left or right. A particular highlight came when Segarra changed the lyrics of one song, “Ogallala,” to say, “Meet me back in an Austin bookstore / Down the stairs in the poetry aisle.” The crowd amply cheered at the passing mention, excited for the special touch.
After performing an over 45-minute set, Segarra and their backing band thanked the crowd and left. A 15-minute interlude marked the space between performances as Bright Eyes took over at 8:38 p.m. to a thunderous introduction. Lightning and thunder playing from speakers across the venue crashed as they walked onto the central stage.
“Bells and Whistles,” a track off of the newest record from the group, serenaded the audience as the night’s first song from the headliner. The heavy-hitting pop track featured trumpeting and fanfare, with the band quickly establishing a groove within a matter of seconds.
In between songs, Oberst took an opportunity to speak to the crowd. The band started off with gratitude: “Greetings, Austin, hello. Right off the bat, we’re in the right place. We’re very lucky to be here.”
Next came the more acoustically bare “El Capitan,” which contrasted against its instrumentally diverse predecessor. Oberst’s groaning vocals painfully marooned while recounting the harrowing lyrics, “You kept kissing me like Judas, your betrayal was apropos / You said I’m washed up and that’s what I get for growing old.”
Throughout the night, the band returned to joyful moments in its discography while touching on Five Dice, All Threes’ painful yet sonically haunting themes. Included early in the setlist was “First Day of My Life,” a track matched with beautiful, glowing yellow stage lights that bathed the surrounding audience. Following that was another track from I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning, “We Are Nowhere and It’s Now.” Oberst crooned, “If you hate the taste of wine, why do you drink it all the time?”
The night featured two covers. Notably, Bright Eyes went through its rendition of “Carmelita” midway through the set, reminding audience members of the band’s potential to play country. The cover was a mild reprieve for the band, as Oberst glided through a more free-flowing performance without as many Dylan-esque vocal movements.
Oberst continued to spill enthusiasm into the performance. The frontman, who moved across the stage with emotive vigor, jutted his face out to knock against his microphone. The action almost served as a test throughout the set, as though he was waiting to fully push the object away from him in an act of defiance. That test became fully realized when Oberst knocked his microphone into the photo pit at the very end of “Trains Still Run on Time.”
Crew rushed to gather the equipment as he, along with other members of the band, rode out the rest of the song. La Lupa offered backing vocals while Mogis and Walcott rode along the track’s conclusion, possibly prepared already for Oberst’s cool demeanor. Crew quickly replanted the microphone squarely in front of the frontman as he prepared for the next song.
Closing out their newest record’s runtime with tracks like “Tiny Suicides” and “Rainbow Overpass,” Bright Eyes barreled toward a conclusion for the night. The penultimate track for Austin before any encore breathed into the venue. “Poison Oak,” a gut-wrenching track that the group has consistently played live since 2002, quickly issued itself as the performance’s highlight. The keystone track played equally joyful as it was mesmerizing, fostering a bittersweet energy in the air.
Bright Eyes' newly minted 20-year-old record hadn’t finished playing yet, however. Oberst segued into a final close with “Road to Joy,” a thumping folk song that switched between guttural screams and soft, anxious refrains. The entire venue lifted as Oberst sang, “Well, I could have been a famous singer / If I had someone else’s voice,” in his classic tumultuous growl. The band left the stage, ushering in a wave of applause that called for an immediate encore. Few left the venue, waiting eerily for a sign of life. Then, they returned a mere minute and a half later for three closing tracks.
Considering the band had made its way deep into the heart of Texas, they opted for an Austin classic, “Devil Town,” originally performed by Daniel Johnston. The vampiric ode opened Bright Eyes’ encore, with Oberst’s voice mirroring Johnston’s higher, boyish register.
The night’s last swan song came as they performed a final track from LIFTED or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground. “Let’s Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and to Be Loved),” an over-ten-minute conclusion, rang out to close the night.
The song’s on-the-nose lyrics burned through the venue. Oberst sang, “Well, ABC, NBC, CBS: bullshit / They give us fact or fiction? I guess an even split / And each new act of war is tonight’s entertainment.” The staunch anti-war advocate, now 45, had long since been old enough to not “still believe in war,” à la previously played ballad “Poison Oak.”
The band pulled through a spectacular finish filled with bursting chords, ripe piano flourishes, and a quick wave to the crowd. Taking off for the night, Bright Eyes’ members said their last goodbyes, allowing Austinites to swarm out of the venue.
It’s hard to imagine a better performance than Bright Eyes'. Despite some critics espousing that the band has a hit-or-miss ratio with live performances, they presented a full concert of old, new, and raw records. Completely shocking Austin to its core, Bright Eyes had every element of a good show, including necessary, triumphant moments in the face of bigger threats.
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