Place: UC Davis' Freeborn Hall
Date: Thursday, October 27, 2005
I have not been to such a good show in awhile and it's hard to get me excited at shows nowadays because I'm so used to attending them. The Bright Eyes show has got to be the best show I've been to overall. All three bands were different in their own ways, but they were all exciting. It was a disappointment seeing a majority of the crowd not moving throughout the show like at least tapping their foot or bobbing their heads because how can you not? I expected it, but I personally can't stand around frozen when I listen to music even at home because music makes you want to move.
I was surprised to see Willy Mason there because I thought it was going to just be Sons & Daughters and Bright Eyes, but Willy sounded even better live than he does on his album. It's definitely good to listen to bands first before you see them live because there's this certain feeling you get when you hear them live after listening to them. There were no drums, it was just Willy on stage with his guitar and a bassist. I appreciated the songs more after his performance.
Sons & Daughters blew me away. I was on my toes throughout their performance. I've heard some say that their music sounded the same or it wasn't all that, but I thought it was amazing. I'm like that too with other bands, but if you listen to their record first then maybe opinions would be different. There was something exciting about the lead singer. I loved watching her move around the stage and during "Choked", I thought it was fitting that she wrapped the cord of the mic around her neck and then started to yank at it. It may sound scary, but to me it isn't. The guitarist reminded me of Franz Ferdinand. I just love how the band was really into the music in their own seperate ways. They all moved differently. Like Willy Mason, I appreciated their songs a lot more.
Bright Eyes is a definite favorite of mine even though he was before he is just "definite" now after finally seeing him live. As corny or teeny-bopperish it may sound, I fell in love with his music all over again and well, him. His band was a joy to watch and I have to say that Bright Eyes is the best band I've ever seen live so far because of their uniqueness. I may just have to get out more because I discovered Bright Eyes late, but it's not my fault I live in this city. I stared at Conor the whole night seeing his facial expressions like I usually don't do. It was truly moving watching Conor perform sober or not because like the rest of his band, he's unique. I've never seen a better performer than Conor because he is just so into his performances. It's rare to find musicians like him nowadays because they're usually so generic and typical. He played songs off of 'Digital Ash In A Digital Urn' to songs off of 'LIFTED' to 'Fevers And Mirrors'. The highlight of the night of course is when he destroys the stage, but otherwise my favorite song that he performed has got to be "False Advertising" because Conor was so into it. I loved watching and hearing him perform that song. I also loved "The Calendar Hung Itself" because well, it was just exciting. I wish I could've seen him years ago.
